EURO 2020 is here and one new feature of the tournament is the differing stance teams are taking against racism.England have become embroiled in a big row with the players condemning fans who booed them taking the knee against Austria and Romania.
England will continue taking the knee throughout Euro 2020Credit: PA
And manager Gareth Southgate said the players are even more determined to take the knee following the booing.
Here are the gestures each of the 24 teams will be making during the tournament.
Which teams are taking the knee at Euro 2020?
England
England will continue to take the knee during Euro 2020, as they have been since the murder of George Floyd last year.
The team have stated that they believe the gesture is not a political one and designed simply to show support for racial equality.
Gareth Southgate said: “I think we have got a situation where some people seem to think it is a political stand that they don’t agree with.
“That is not the reason the players are doing it. We are supporting each other.”
Wales
Wales and France take the knee in a pre-Euro 2020 friendlyCredit: Reuters
Wales have taken the knee over the past year and will continue to do so.
Interim manager Rob Page said: “We had a meeting and we all think it’s still important to take the knee.
“That’s the message we’ve given out. We’re all in it together and there were no issues.”
Belgium
Belgium are the only non-British team to announce they will take the knee throughout Euro 2020.
Romelu Lukaku said of any negative reactions: “I don’t care. I fight for diversity.
“Not only for the black community, also for the women. Colour, sexuality, faith, it doesn’t matter. Everybody should be respected.”
Which teams have not taken the knee at Euro 2020?
Hungary
Hungary point to the Uefa Respect badge as Ireland take the kneeCredit: Reuters
The Hungarian FA were the first association to confirm they will not take the knee at Euro 2020.
In a statement they said they view the knee as a political gesture in defiance of Uefa and Fifa rules.
It read: “The basic values of the sport are equal opportunities, respect for the teammate and the opponent.
“Football may have become the most popular sport in the world because it belongs to everyone.
“The Hungarian national team not only follows the international rules and norms in all cases, but also pays tribute to everyone – be it an opponent, a fan or anyone else.
“MLSZ has been fighting all forms of hatred for years as part of the ‘Hate is not a track’ campaign.
“The rules of UEFA and FIFA do not allow politicization on the pitch and in the stadium either, which the MLSZ not only accepts but also agrees with.
“The national team will not express its condemnation of any form of hatred by kneeling before the matches.”
During their warm-up game against Ireland, Hungary pointed to the Uefa Respect logo on the sleeves of their shirts while the Irish team took the knee and were booed by a sizeable portion of the 15,000 crowd.
The Republic of Ireland’s players were booed and jeered by some Hungary fans as they took a knee before kick-off in their friendly in Budapest. pic.twitter.com/15npHfKZcE— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) June 8, 2021
Croatia
England’s first opponents at Euro 2020 did not take the knee but instead pointed to the Uefa Respect badge on their shirts.
An official statement read: “CFF and the players are against any form of discrimination.
“But the FA provides the players with the right to choose, as the act itself isn’t a part of Croatian culture and heritage.
“The players chose not to kneel down before the Belgium game, but they’ve taken a respectful stance towards the gesture made by their Belgium colleagues.”
Italy
Italy have will not be taking the knee in any of their Euro 2020 games, according to reports from the country.
In their opening two games against Switzerland and Turkey the two sides kicked off the match as normal.
And when Wales take the knee in Rome, the Italians are set to stand against racism instead.
Denmark
Denmark did not take the knee in their Euro 2020 opener against Finland.
They also chose to remain standing during the game against Belgium, but applauded the Belgian team for performing the gesture.
Finland
Finland did not take the knee in their Euro 2020 opener against Denmark or their second game against Russia.
It is not known whether they will do so when they play Belgium.
Russia
Russia did not take the knee in their opening game against Belgium.
The crowd in St Petersburg were also heard booing the Belgian team, who did choose to kneel.
Holland
The Netherlands will not take the knee in any of their games, captain Georginio Wijnaldum has said.
Wijnaldum, who has been taking the knee with Liverpool in Premier League games, commented: “We have talked about that but we decided not to do this.
“We’re trying to bring attention to the issue in a different way. Actually, only the players who play in England are used to this [kneeling].”
Austria
Despite taking the knee in a warm-up game against England, Austria did not do so in their first Euro 2020 game against North Macedonia.
It is not known whether they will kneel if the opposition does.
North Macedonia
North Macedonia did not take the knee in their Euro 2020 opening game against Austria.
Ukraine
Ukraine did not take the knee before their opening Euro 2020 game against Holland.
Czech Republic
Czech Republic refused to take the knee in their game against Wales in March and are highly unlikely to do so at Euro 2020.
The Czechs decided to point to the Uefa Respect logo in their sleeves on that occasion as a “neutral, apolitical gesture”.
During their Euro 2020 opener against Scotland, neither side took the knee.
The Czechs are thought to be less likely than ever to take the knee after being angered by the ten-game suspension Uefa handed down to defender Ondrej Kudela after he was found to have racially abused Rangers’ Glen Kamara.
Spain
While some La Liga players have shown solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, the Spain team have never taken the knee and their clubs also tend not to.
Real Madrid did not take the knee against Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester City while Villarreal chose not to kneel against Man Utd in the Europa League final.
When Granada played Man Utd, only Brazil winger Kenedy took the knee.
Spain did not take the knee in their opening Euro 2020 game against Sweden.
Sweden
Sweden did not take the knee in their opening Euro 2020 game against Spain or their second game against Slovakia.
Poland
Poland point to their Uefa Respect badge as England take the kneeCredit: Getty
Poland did not take the knee in their opening Euro 2020 game against Slovakia.
The gesture has been criticised by both the Polish FA president and sections of their support.
The Poles refused to kneel against England and instead pointed to the Uefa Respect logo on their sleeves.
Polish FA President Zbigniew Boniek labelled the gesture “populism” that “achieved nothing” and said: “I am absolutely against such actions.
“Footballers sometimes kneel, and if you asked some of them why they were kneeling, they wouldn’t even know.”
Slovakia
Slovakia did not take the knee in their Euro 2020 opener against Poland or their second game against Sweden.
The Slovaks took the knee against Ireland and Scotland last October but were criticised in the Slovakian parliament.
After this, the country’s FA said the players had only taken the knee because they believed Uefa had instructed them to do so and would no longer perform the gesture.
Portugal
Portugal did not take the knee in their Euro 2020 opener against Hungary.
It is not known whether they will kneel in any of their other games.
France
France took the knee in their first warm-up friendly against Wales but not in their second one against Bulgaria.
However, they did not take the knee in their tournament opener against Germany.
It is not known whether they will take the knee if the opposition does.
Germany
Bundesliga players took the knee after the murder of George Floyd last season.
However, the national team have not been kneeling in 2021.
The German team chose not to kneel before their game against France but it is not known whether they will kneel if they face an opposition who do.
Which teams are taking the knee in some Euro 2020 games?
Scotland have made their decision ahead of their opener against Czech Republic
Scotland stars originally said that would NOT be taking a knee prior to their Euro 2020 matches.
The Scottish FA have confirmed they will continue to promote an anti-racist message by standing before matches.
But just a day later, they confirmed that they WILL in their match against England.
Scotland skipper Andy Robertson said: “It is important we continue to tackle the issue of racism and raise awareness of the need to change people’s mindsets but also their behaviours.
“Prior to our World Cup qualifiers in March we spoke as a group and felt that taking a stand was the best way for us to show solidarity and also to reinforce the need for meaningful change in society.”
As per their announcement, Scotland did not kneel against the Czech Republic.
Turkey
Turkey did not take the knee in their opening match against Italy but did in their second game against Wales.
Switzerland
Switzerland did take the knee in their opening Euro 2020 game against Wales but did not in their second game against Italy. More
