What has taking the knee achieved?
Jess Carter has said she will not kneel before England’s semi-final with Italy kicks off after experiencing "a lot of racial abuse" during Euro 2025.
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The Lionesses will all stand in solidarity with the defender by not kneeling, which they have done before all of the games of the tournament so far.
Carter, 27, has received vile racist messages on social media throughout the course of the tournament - starting three of the four games so far, including the last eight win over Sweden.
She has also said she has “taken a step back” from the platforms while her teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy has pledged to do the same, and Lucy Bronze said players “don’t need it”.
Sir Keir Starmer has condemned racist trolling of Carter and urged social media companies to do more to police their sites.
The abuse of Carter follows other Black players reporting they had been targeted this year, including Joe Willock, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Calvin Bassey, and Wesley Fofana.
Carter said online: "From the start of the tournament, I have experienced a lot of racial abuse. Whilst I feel every fan is entitled to their opinion on performance and result I don't agree or think it's ok to target someone's appearance or race.”
How did taking the knee begin?
Carter will line up alongside her England teammates in Geneva on Tuesday for the semi-final, but none of the Lionesses will kneel before kick-off.
Taking a knee became a symbol against racism after it was first demonstrated by American footballers Eric Reid and Colin Kaepernick, who knelt during the US national anthem in 2016 in protest against police violence and racial inequality in America.
The movement swept across American football, and it became a common sight for players to kneel from 2017, despite president Donald Trump condemning the practice.
From 2020, the movement came into football with Premier League and Champions League games beginning with the mass kneeling. International games, too, started this way.
Kaepernick and Reid’s movement gained greater traction on the back of the murder of George Floyd and the mass protests seen in support of Black Lives Matter.
The practice has, however, been controversial. Some fans booed as England players knelt before the games at Euro 2020, but then prime minister Boris Johnson did not condemn this.
Former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab said at the time: “I’ve got say, on this take the knee thing – which, I don’t know, maybe it’s got a broader history but it seems to be taken from the Game of Thrones – feels to me like a symbol of subjugation and subordination, rather than one of liberation and emancipation.”
Labour’s Diane Abbott hit back: “Taking the knee began in 2016 with American athletes refusing to stand for the US national anthem. They were protesting police brutality and racism. But Dominic Raab thinks it comes from Game of Thrones!”
Even so, Tory MP Lee Anderson said he would not watch England games if they were to be preceded by players kneeling.
Sir Keir said at the time: “In standing up against racism and for equality, they have shown true leadership. In contrast, when Boris Johnson was asked to condemn those who booed our players for taking the knee, he failed to do so.”
In February 2021, Wilfried Zaha, an Ivory Coast-born player who was raised in England, said he would become the first in the Premier League to stop taking the knee.
"Growing up, my parents let me know I should be proud to be black. We should stand tall.
"With taking a knee, sometimes people forget we have to do it. It is becoming something we just do. That is not enough for me."
What has taking the knee achieved?
Accusations towards the kneeling being little more than “gesture politics” have been present since the start, but players have persisted in taking the knee - although it is now more commonly seen ahead of the bigger fixtures to help stop it losing any impact.
From 2023/24 this, for the Premier League, meant the first and final fixtures as well as dedicated games in October and April given over to No Room for Racism.
But after five years, Lucy Bronze, among other players, has felt that the stand is losing its impact. She has said that the gesture cannot cover the need for greater measures to stop racism within football.
Bronze said: “I think it was just the fact that we feel, as a collective, ‘Is the message as strong as it used to be? Is the message really hitting hard?’.
“Because to us it feels like it’s not, if these things are still happening to our players in the biggest tournaments of their lives. It’s putting another statement out there to say it’s something that still is a problem.
“It’s something that still needs to be put right. More needs to be done in football, more needs to be done in society. What that is right now, as an individual, I don’t exactly know, but it’s something that we, collectively, as a team and as a federation, want to work towards.”
An Open University study found that while taking the knee may have raised the conversation about racial injustice, there has been little change to the level of racism in football. It cited that he received around 30 abusive messages a week while he played at the top level.
“Although there has been controversy around taking the knee in football and whether this is having a positive effect on the issues revolving around racism in football, there is also research to support the cause,” the study read.
“Taking the knee before kick-off can make a difference to the issues highlighted above, and by raising awareness. If taking the knee ceased, would racism in football become an issue that is ignored?”
It added that the issue “will not go away by itself” and that Aston Villa and England player Tyrone Mings had welcomed movements to even begin a conversation around race.