England manager Sarina Wigman says she decided to stop taking her knees before a match because the effects of anti-racism gestures were “not enough.”
The Lioness will not take his knees against Italy on Tuesday before the Euro 2025 semi-final after defender Jess Carter revealed he was targeting racist abuse on social media throughout the tournament.
On Sunday, the English player said he would stop taking his knees because “it’s clear that we and football need to find another way to tackle racism.”
“Take your knees and that’s not enough. We did it for a while. The impact isn’t enough. It’s not as big as we think,” Wigman told BBC Sports’ Dan Loan on Monday.
“When there is this form of racism, we feel like we have to do something else, something different, so we’re not taking our knees.”
England midfielder Georgia Stunway told BBC Sports that the team will be kicking off rather than kneeling.
“I feel like we’ve gone past that [taking the knee] Just said Stanway.
“Even when we’re on our knees, we still feel that it’s happening. We’ve decided to get up and we don’t do that.
“We want to talk to people, so I think that in itself is a way of making a difference.
Police are investigating the abuse Carter suffered.
The head of fare, an international anti-discrimination group for football, questioned the UK’s decision to halt what is deemed “strong anti-racist acts.”
Sternway praised Carter’s decision to make the abuse public and pledged the team’s support for his teammates.
“That’s scary,” Sternway said. “It’s really hard because we never understand, but we want to create an environment where Jess feels safe and we want to tell us the moment she’s going through something.
“That’s exactly what we did. Jess isn’t just thinking about herself, she’s thinking about the other players, she’s thinking about the next generation. It’s very selfish to be able to talk about what you’re going through when it’s over.”
Italy declared solidarity with England and when asked if there was a gesture in the match, defender Cecilia Salbai said:
