England Women’s Team Drops Knee Gesture to Fight Racism

England women’s football coach Sarina Wiegman says taking the knee is no longer enough to fight racism, after defender Jess Carter was targeted with online racist abuse during the Women’s European Championship.

In support of Carter, the Lionesses have decided they will stop taking the knee before matches. Instead, they want to find new and stronger ways to stand against racism.

“It’s clear that football and society need to do more. Taking the knee doesn’t have the same impact anymore,” Wiegman told BBC Sport. “We’ve done it for a long time, but it’s not working as we hoped. After what happened to Jess, we knew we had to do something different.”

Jess Carter has played all four of England’s matches in the tournament so far, totaling 310 minutes. England faces Italy in the semi-final on Wednesday (IST). Police are currently investigating the abuse she received.

England midfielder Georgia Stanway also said the team feels that taking the knee is no longer enough to bring real change.

“We’ve reached the point where we need to do more. Racism is still happening even though we take the knee,” Stanway said. “We’ve chosen to stop doing it as a way to spark new conversations and highlight that current actions aren’t enough.”

The team hopes their decision will raise awareness and push for stronger action against racism in football and beyond.

On the field, England showed their fighting spirit in the quarter-finals. After falling behind 0-2 to Sweden early in the game, the defending champions came back to draw 2-2. They then won the match in a tense penalty shootout to reach the semi-finals.

The Lionesses continue to push forward—both on the pitch and in the fight for equality and justice.