Olivier Giroud said it was important for a white player to make a stand against racism after he took a knee following his winner against Aston Villa.
Giroud dropped to one knee and pointed to the sky to celebrate when he gave Chelsea a 2-1 win at Villa Park that strengthened their grip on fourth place.
“It was a tribute to George Floyd and Black Lives Matter,” Giroud told Sky Sports. “And also I always point my fingers to the sky because I am Christian. I feel we live in a difficult time. I would love people to show more love to each other and eradicate this kind of hate. I want to stand for that kind of cause, racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia.
“I think it was also important that something comes from a white guy. We should stick together and we need to show more respect, support, humility and love to each other.
“We [footballers] have an advantage because we can show an example. We are committed to that cause, we have done it at training and put stuff on social media to show people that we are 100 per cent behind this cause.”
Chelsea came from behind to beat Villa and move five points clear of Manchester United in fifth place in the race for the Champions League.
Giroud said: “It was a good result. We knew we could have a gap if we won. We are going to have to fight until the end of the season for the Champions League race. We just need to focus on our games, keep improving and also look up. We are only a few points behind Leicester now, and why not third place?”
