League of Ireland players to take a knee upon restart

Omackeral

The League of Ireland starts back this weekend after being on hiatus due to the pandemic. I read the other day that players and officials will ''take the knee'' in solidarity with BLM for the first 8 games of the restart. What's your thoughts on this?

I watched Match of the Day on Sunday and they literally showed every knee-take from every fixture. It seemed a little overkill if I'm honest. However, England and English football has had it's fair share of racism issues. It's not really soemthing we have in the game here. So do you see this as a decent gesture? Sincere? Do you see it as necessary? Bandwagon virtue signalling?

I'm a Bohs fan and our board have seen us lean left on plenty of issues with Refugess Welcome on the jersey etc and, while it doesn't bother me too much, I'd hate to openly have the cheek to have a dissenting opinion. The players are told they may take a knee if they want to but I can only imagine the backlash if they didn't. What's your opinion?

biko

Source
https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/0723/1155231-loi-players-to-take-a-knee-when-season-resumes

League of Ireland players to take a knee in support of Black Lives Matter campaign when season resumes, PFAI confirms

I don't agree with this. You're only feeding the frenzy

Omackeral

Thanks for including the source, really should have done that myself!

Zebra3

Posted about this in the football forum.

It's bandwagoning.

Protests like this mean more when they are from the bottom up, and not "ordered" from the top.

Bit like the poppy nonsense in Britain, meaningless when everything is expected to participate.

My question for those who are pushing this would be, why now, why not last year?

Absolute BS. Bad as the situation might be, and much as I sympathise with the victims, shoe horning foreign politics into LOI is just the height of nonsense. I mean if the Gardai were parked outside Ballybofey every second Friday to dish out leatherings to the legions of black fans pouring out of your average Finn Harps match then I'd say fair enough.

If LOI players insist on taking a political stance on something, the Gardai murdering minorities with impunity wouldn't really strike me as the most pressing issue facing the state.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

Here we go again.

A disgrace if this happens. What happens if one player decides that the burning and looting and tearing down of statues is actually a bad thing and decided to not “bend the knee”.

His career is over. His life is over. He will be destroyed.

This is plain plain wrong.

suicide_circus

George Floyd will be smiling down on them from heaven with gratitude.

washman3

Total and utter load of nonsense.
The people of this country really need to get a grip.!!

seamus

Don't see the issue.

riffmongous

While I never have heard anything racist at a LOI game thank god, (and afaik there arent many incidents), I have in other countries (Sparta Prague the worst) and it's still a problem in many, even in the UK I think there have been more incidents in recent years, so I think a small gesture as a sign of solidarity is a nice touch

Zebra3

If I was a LoI player would I be allowed to do my own protest before matches?

JohnnyFlash

Don't see the issue here. Bohs and their fans are always trying to push the narrative they are a left wing club - load of beards in the crowd with their St Pauli jerseys etc. Would have thought showing solidarity with oppressed minorities would be right up their street.

Harry Palmr

In a league with a significant black player cohort these days (plus the senior and youth national sides of course) maybe this is getting in before things get bad rather than reacting once the damage has been done. Just because there isn't a known Combat 18 type substrata in the stands and outside the grounds it doesn't mean there isn't an issue.

EmmetSpiceland

Great to see “solidarity” being shown by the LoI.

Hopefully this will be “taken up” by the GAA lads, perhaps they could start it with the championship games.

Thankfully these LoI games are being played “behind closed doors” so there won’t be any booing of player’s showing their commitment to the movement.

Omackeral

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Don't see the issue here. Bohs and their fans are always trying to push the narrative they are a left wing club

It's the board pushing that agenda more than the fans. It actually alienates some of the people there who just want to go to watch bloody football and care not a jot for political stances.

Birneybau

biko wrote: »

Source
https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/0723/1155231-loi-players-to-take-a-knee-when-season-resumes


I don't agree with this. You're only feeding the frenzy

What 'frenzy'?

Yakult

This might outrage one of the 12 people who watch the LoI. Brace for impact!

Omackeral

Harry Palmr wrote: »

In a league with a significant black player cohort these days (plus the senior and youth national sides of course) maybe this is getting in before things get bad rather than reacting once the damage has been done. Just because there isn't a known Combat 18 type substrata in the stands and outside the grounds it doesn't mean there isn't an issue.

The LOI is given critisicm about a lot of things, some warranted, some not. Racism is one issue I can confidently say is not a factor. That's from going for over 20 years every single week. I've never seen it or heard it myself. I reckon if anyone dropped a racial slur in the crowd they'd be called out or booted out.

namloc1980

Yakult wrote: »

This might outrage one of the 12 people who watch the LoI. Brace for impact!

Hilarious - my sides nearly split.

Omackeral

Yakult wrote: »

This might outrage one of the 12 people who watch the LoI. Brace for impact!

You are the mod of a FIFA and Pro Evo soccer games forum, don't think you have the high ground here :pac:

Richard Hillman

I won't be buying the WatchLOI app because of it. I'll do it in after the first round of games if they stop bending the knee.

BTW I have been going to games for 20 years and was a season ticket holder.

Abel Ruiz

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Great to see “solidarity” being shown by the LoI.

Hopefully this will be “taken up” by the GAA lads, perhaps they could start it with the championship games.

Thankfully these LoI games are being played “behind closed doors” so there won’t be any booing of player’s showing their commitment to the movement.

But why stop with the gaa and football matches???
Every Sport, everywhere. Start off with the under8s and get every child involved in this "Movement"...
Maybe when schools go back, they should do it before class, every class in second level. Third level should be no problem, they'll comply and expelled if they dont!
And everyone has to take a knee before they start their shift in work.
We of course record eachother on our phones and post it to the social medddia and we can find out who is not doing it.
If you do not comply, suspended without pay for 2-48 months. Perhaps sacking????
If you do not work, maybe a simple pic for the social welfare will suffice? No pic=no welfare!

Wait, before we force everyone to do this. What is this "movement" again?

ThunbergsAreGo

I don't think football and politics/political movements - which BLM is - should mix - especially when not dictated by from above - which this is.

This got players a two game ban in the World Cup - https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/world-cup-2018-xherdan-shaqiri-granit-xhaka-goal-celebrations-fifa-investigation-a8414211.html. Now if they just said, we are taking a knee or a similar gesture against racism - I would have less of an issue. I dont really think players kneeling will affect anyone one way or the other in any case.

JohnnyFlash

ThunbergsAreGo wrote: »

I don't think football and politics/political movements - which BLM is - should mix - especially when not dictated by from above - which this is.

If clubs like Bohs and Galway United pitch the narrative they are left-wing clubs and have a strong left-wing support base then it's a bit rich for supporters to be complaining about what is a harmless show of support for the very real and genuine racism that minorities face.

Zebra3

Omackeral wrote: »

It's the board pushing that agenda more than the fans. It actually alienates some of the people there who just want to go to watch bloody football and care not a jot for political stances.

Bohs are owned by the fans/members.

The board can only act with the support of the fans/members who elect them.

Yakult

Omackeral wrote: »

You are the mod of a FIFA and Pro Evo soccer games forum, don't think you have the high ground here :pac:

sasta le

This prob started by Bohs I'm guessing what's the story with it being a trendy hipster club all of a sudden

ChelseaRentBoy

suicide_circus wrote: »

George Floyd will be smiling down on them from heaven with gratitude.

George Floyd was a career criminal who was murdered by the cops If people want to take a knee do it for front line health workers or least pick someone who wasn't a complete waster.

All this virtue signalling is going to end badly.

Zebra3

sasta le wrote: »

This prob started by Bohs I'm guessing what's the story with it being a trendy hipster club all of a sudden

Trying to lick the hole off Dublin City Council for a €35M upgrade for their traditional home ground which DCC already gave them over €3.5M for.

Follows a failed corrupt attempt by Bohs to sell their ground for €60M to a property developer by including land in the deal that didn't belong to them.

riffmongous

Omackeral wrote: »

The LOI is given critisicm about a lot of things, some warranted, some not. Racism is one issue I can confidently say is not a factor. That's from going for over 20 years every single week. I've never seen it or heard it myself. I reckon if anyone dropped a racial slur in the crowd they'd be called out or booted out.

Eamon Zayed is the only one that comes to my mind..

But anyway, we always want to push the profile of the League, to convince people of it's legitimacy, to have it takes it's place in Europe well now is a chance to be involved and I'm happy to see them not hide away and say its nothing to do with us. I don't think that it's going to magically solve all of soccer's racism ills, but considering how many countries in Europe there are where this definitely wouldn't happen, every single one where it does sends a message and we get to punch above our weight here by being on the list of those where it can.

Richard Hillman

Bohs are trying to take the league down a bad path. LOI has been tremendously non political since I have been going to games. Even clubs like Derry, based on the bogside have managed to keep politics away from the game.

Going to league games is great. You get away from the world for 2 hours and all that matters is if your team wins or not. It's pure sport. Bohs specifically are trying to ruin something that we have that is pure.