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Black Lives Matter: England players to take a knee in Nations League games

Watch Iceland vs England on Saturday, from 4:30pm (kick-off: 5pm), and Denmark vs England on Tuesday from 7pm (kick-off 7:45pm), both live on Sky Sports Football and Main Event

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Image: Raheem Sterling and his England team-mates will continue to take a knee after doing so in the Premier League

England players will take a knee before the upcoming Nations League games against Iceland and Denmark as a continued show of support for the Black Lives Matter campaign.

The game in Reykjavik on Saturday afternoon, live on Sky Sports Football, will be the first England have played in ten months, and will be the first time that the men's senior national team has made the powerful gesture.

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The squad has discussed the issue inside England's training camp at St George's Park, and feelings were strong among the players that the show of unity should continue the trend which was universal in Premier League games since the re-start.

However, the Black Lives Matter logo will not be on the England players' shirt sleeves for the games.

UEFA rules dictate that no political logo or message should appear on match shirts in their competitions - though, whether or not the Black Lives Matter campaign is a political movement, is a clear bone of contention.

England have had disputes with FIFA in the past, when it comes to wearing a poppy on match shirts. The English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations were all fined in 2016 for defying the ban, before FIFA changed it's rules in 2017 to allow the poppy to be worn.

Many feel that UEFA should make a similar compromise when it comes to the Black Lives Matter logo.

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Mason Greenwood says taking a knee sends a powerful message and he would like Premier League players to continue next season.

Greenwood wants players to continue taking a knee

Manchester United and England striker Mason Greenwood wants to see Premier League players continue to take a knee in the upcoming season.

"As the Premier League, we are trying to send a message out there to the whole world that it's important for everyone to know the reasons why we don't want racism in football or anywhere in the world.

"It's good that the Premier League are trying to send that message out there.

"It's a big thing now in football that everyone notices, a lot of people watch football. It will send a good message out.

"For my part, I'd like to see it next season as well."

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100 days on from the death of George Floyd, sportsmen and women across the world have been using their platforms and their voices in the fight against racism and social injustice.

George Floyd 100 days on: Sport aligned in fight against racism

With 100 days past since the death of George Floyd and the surge of the global Black Lives Matter movement, Paul Elliott - chair of the FA Inclusion Advisory Board - reflects on how sports have become "aligned" in the fight against racism.

Floyd was an unarmed black man who died on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes as Floyd told them "I can't breathe".

His death had a massive impact on all sports across the world, with many showing their solidarity, including in the Premier League where players decided to kneel at the start of matches and wear 'Black Lives Matter' on the back of their shirts instead of their names, and in the NBA where some players refused to return to focus on the movement.

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