(AP) – Just before the referee whistled for kick-off, British soccer players took one look at each other and immediately got down on one knee. Their opponents on the pitch, Chile's soccer players responded naturally, and all the players got down on one knee on Wednesday at the Sapporo Dome Stadium.
An hour later, it was the American and Swedish women's soccer players in Tokyo who played on Wednesday, joining in the team's gesture against racism at the Olympics.
On the first day of action at the Tokyo Games, soccer players were the first athletes to use the Olympic platform to showcase activism. Long banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), such protests within limited parameters are now allowed on the field of play at the Olympic Games.
British soccer players before leaving for Tokyo, in a joint meeting decided to make this gesture that has been presented during the last year in the women's Super League club matches in England.
Unlike other sports, such as the NFL (American football), where players drop to one knee during the singing of the national anthem, in football this gesture occurs shortly before the start of the game. It was in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick first knelt instead of standing during the national anthem while playing for the San Francisco 49ers.
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Football used to avoid any form of activism in matches. But FIFA relaxed its policy last year after players in Europe decided to use the matches to protest the racial injustice caused by the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of a white police officer. FIFA also told referees to apply common sense and allow players to display shirts with anti-racism messages previously banned in football.
The IOC allows acts of activism - if permitted by the sport's governing body - only before or after the official start of events at the Olympic Games.
