Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich has said that white players should join their black teammates in protesting against the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.
On a day when the German FA announced that Jadon Sancho, Marcus Thuram, Achraf Hakimi and Weston McKennie will not be sanctioned after leading protests in the Bundesliga against Floyd’s killing, Kimmich said all footballers have a duty to make a stand against racism.
“It’s good that it’s not just one player,” the Bayern midfielder said. “Maybe it is also an option to say something as a team. Football is like a role model, because normally in normal life – but especially in football – it is not possible that there is something like racism.
“We are one world, one club, one football team. It doesn’t matter if you are black or white. We as footballers, like with Sancho, have a lot of power to reach other people, to be role models and to say something. What we say to people outside gives us a big chance to make a statement.”
Sancho and Hakimi lifted their shirts to reveal “Justice for George Floyd” messages during Borussia Dortmund’s win against Padeborn on Sunday, while Thuram took a knee after scoring for Borussia Mönchengladbach against Union Berlin. McKennie, Schalke’s USA midfielder, also had “Justice for George Floyd” on an armband.
Kimmich was impressed by the protests and revealed that Bayern’s players are planning to make an anti-discrimination statement. “We discussed it and maybe we can do something,” the German international said. “We maybe have to do something because we cannot give something like this a place.”