Tokyo Olympics 2020: New Zealand women’s football team to take the knee at Games
The New Zealand women’s soccer team said it will take a knee before the opening match of the Tokyo Olympic Games against Australia on Wednesday at a stadium in Tokyo in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The International Olympic Committee has relaxed its Rule 50, which had previously forbidden athletes from any protests but now allows them to make gestures on the field, provided they do so without disruption and with respect for fellow competitors.
“We are delighted that the IOC has made room for athletes to use their voices for good at the Olympic Games and are proud of our athletes for making a global stand for greater racial equality,” Rob Waddell, New Zealand’s Chef de Mission in Tokyo, said in a statement.
“We fully support athlete advocacy where the New Zealand Team values are upheld.”
Britain’s women’s soccer coach Hege Riise also said last week that her players will take the knee before matches at the Tokyo Games to raise awareness about racism and all forms of discrimination.
While athlete protests at the Olympics are rare, at the 1968 Mexico City Games, Black US sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos were expelled after they bowed their heads and raised black-gloved fists on the podium to protest racial inequality.
At Rio 2016, Ethiopian marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa raised his arms and crossed his wrists when crossing the finish line to show support for his Oromo tribe’s protests over government plans to reallocate farmland.
The act of taking the knee is a form of protest first made by American football quarterback Colin Kaepernick and followed by the Black Lives Matter movement.However, there is still a threat of sanctions if any protests are made on the medal podium during the July 23 to August 8 Games.
