Footballer Lyle Taylor has repeated his anti-Black Lives Matter stance in an interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC.
During an interview on LBC this morning, Mr Taylor said he would stop “taking the knee” at football matches as it was a “Marxist group”, saying he took the decision because “enough was enough” and “not enough people have looked into the organisation that has brought this all to the fore”.
“Now, I said before that I agree with the message that black lives do matter and something needs to be done about that to actually address the message that the racial inequality and the societal injustice needs to stop,” Lyle explained.
The host asked whether white footballers appreciated what they were taking part in, to which Mr Taylor said no, stating: “I also feel sorry for them on the other hand, where even if they knew and agreed with what I’m saying and what other black players are saying, they can’t not take the knee.
He added: “A white player cannot stand there and say ‘I’m not taking the knee’ because of this or that, because they’re branded racist.”
It comes after Brentford FC announced that their players would stop taking the knee before matches. They said it no longer has an impact and claimed that fans are now fed up with the gesture, with some criticising it for politicising the sport.
Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha has also stated that he will no longer take the knee before matches, saying the gesture is “degrading” and that black players should “stand tall”.
Taylor said he had received racial abuse for speaking out against BLM in January, when he referred to the world’s media as “scandalous” for getting behind the organisation. He urged anyone who supports BLM to “look into what the organisation does and what they stand for”.
Nottingham Forest footballer Lyle Taylor tells LBC he will no longer take the knee, branding Black Lives Matter a "Marxist group."@NickFerrariLBC | @lyletaylor90 pic.twitter.com/phpK9VSOLk
— LBC (@LBC) February 19, 2021
