Guehi, Diop and Maitland-Niles stand apart as taking the knee returns to Premier League

Marc Guehi, Issa Diop and Ainsley Maitland-Niles each chose to remain standing during the pre-match taking-the-knee gesture on Saturday, the opening weekend of the Premier League’s ‘No Room For Racism’ month of action in October.

Guehi, the Manchester City and England defender, stood while his teammates and Ipswich Town’s players knelt before kick-off at the Etihad Stadium. His opposite number in the Ipswich defence, Issa Diop, also declined to take the knee. Earlier in the afternoon, Maitland-Niles was the sole player on the pitch to remain standing ahead of Everton’s defeat to Chelsea.

None of the three players has issued a public statement explaining their decision. It is, however, well documented that a number of players feel the gesture — which was adopted in English football in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdowns and the death of George Floyd in US police custody in 2020 — has diminished in meaning over time.

Former Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha described kneeling as “degrading” in 2021, while Brentford striker Ivan Toney said at the time: “We are kind of being used as puppets, in my eyes; take the knee and the people at the top can rest for a while now, which is pretty silly and pretty pointless. Nothing is changing.”

The Premier League moved away from taking the knee before every match in August 2022, limiting the gesture to match rounds that fall within the two dedicated ‘No Room For Racism’ windows each season. That arrangement was agreed by Premier League captains ahead of the current format, with players and staff given the opportunity to perform the gesture across the next two weeks in October.

The league has reaffirmed its “commitment to tackling discrimination and highlight the importance of diversity in football” as part of the initiative. Players who choose not to participate are not sanctioned — the gesture has always been voluntary.