The scene took place before the kick-off of Manchester City-Burnley. As the players, whose shirts were struck with the slogan "black lives matter", a small plane appeared in the sky of the Etihad Stadium, pulling behind it a banner "white lives matter Burnley" (the lives of white people count) , a slogan of the far right which fights against the anti-racist movement.
A few minutes after the two teams, their staffs and the referees had put their knees on the ground in tribute to the anti-racism movement and to fight against police violence, the plane made a few laps in the sky before leaving. The Burnley club quickly reacted in a statement to "strongly condemn" the banner and those responsible for this operation.
Our captain #twitterclarets #utc pic.twitter.com/G0aNs92vP2
- Burnley FC Live (@Burnley_FC_Live) June 23, 2020"This in no way represents what the Burnley Football Club is fighting for and we will cooperate with the authorities to identify those responsible and take the appropriate measures," the club continued in its press release.
Burnley, no coincidence
"We want to make it clear that not everyone responsible is welcome at Turf Moor," the club stadium. In recent years, English football has been very harsh on supporters with racist or homophobic behavior, not hesitating to ban them for life from stadiums.
Burnley, a former mining and industrial town in the north of England, was one of the theaters, in July 2001, of racial riots which had also affected Leeds, Oldham or Bradford, and the far-right party British National Party had some electoral successes there in the early 2000s.
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Premier League: English football resumes paying tribute to "Black Lives Matter", knee on the ground
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