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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Matt Davies

Borussia Dortmund players take the knee to support Black Lives Matter movement amid George Floyd protests

Borussia Dortmund have become the latest club to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement as protests continue following the death of George Floyd.

The German club tweeted a photo of the squad taking a knee at their training base on Thursday.

Alongside the photo, Dortmund wrote: "We, Borussia Dortmund, fully support the Black Lives Matter Movement.

"We do not accept racism of any kind and will continue to work to make the world a better and more tolerant place."

Mr Floyd, an unarmed black American citizen, died last week in Minneapolis after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for at least eight minutes, with subsequent outrage following both in the United States and beyond.

While protests have since occurred across the globe, the sporting world has also joined as a collective to offer its support.

Dortmund and England winger Jadon Sancho was one of the first footballers to show his support, displaying a "Justice for George Floyd" message after scoring the first of three goals against Paderborn last Sunday.

By footballing law, players are not to display slogans, statements or images that may be deemed political while playing, but Fifa president Gianni Infantino has since said the Bundesliga players who showed their support "deserve an applause and not a punishment".

The German FA (DFB) has also confirmed that it will not take action against Sancho or any other players who used recent Bundesliga matches to protest Floyd's death.

Following Sancho's protest, Premier League clubs Liverpool and Chelsea also both posted pictures of their players taking a knee.

Elsewhere, Turkish club Besiktas also showed their support for George Floyd.

Their players were seen organised into a formation spelling 'GF', with pictures released across their social media platforms.

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