Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed the club's decision to take a knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement before their friendly with Brentford on Wednesday was driven by the players.
The Black Lives Matter movement has grown in recent weeks following the death of George Floyd, who died while being detained by police in Minneapolis last month.
Sport has begun to show solidarity with Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement by taking a knee, with Chelsea and Liverpool doing so before training last week.
Arsenal on Wednesday did the same before their friendly with Brentford at Emirates Stadium and players and staff wore shirts with slogans such as ‘I can't breathe’ and ‘we stand in solidarity’.
And Arteta has now revealed it was the players who led the charge for Arsenal to show their support to the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The thing that I like most is that it came from them (the players),” Arteta told Sky Sports News.
“I got a phone call from the captain asking to do that, I spoke with the club straight away and we were very clear that we wanted to support their intentions, everyone collaborated, we created the shirts.
“It was a really strong message and it is more powerful because it comes from them. They think they have to support these types of causes.”
As reported by Standard Sport, Premier League clubs are in discussions about players taking a knee before matches to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and honour Floyd.
