LONDON (UK) – Former Queens Park Rangers (QPR) defender Nedum Onuoha has said that players taking the knee before matches to express solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement will make sure that it remains the topic of conversation and bring about change.
Last week, former England striker Les Ferdinand said that kneeling had become a PR stunt and the real message behind it was being muffled.
Ferdinand, a Black, is director of football at QPR. The team came under fire when they did not kneel before their second-tier Championship match last week.
Onuoha, who hails from Nigeria, told the BBC on Friday, “Les is perfectly entitled to his opinion, but even if 50% of people that kneel don’t believe in it, they’re still kneeling, and as a consequence it can still be a topic of conversation.”
“Even if it’s diluted, it’s still a message in itself,” said Onuoha, who dribbles the ball for Real Salt Lake.
Clubs in England’s Premier League took up the cause of BLM movement when the 2019-20 season resumed.
Clubs sported Black Lives Matter logos on their shirts, which have now been replaced by “No Room for Racism”.