Taking the knee ‘not good enough’ – Wiegman

England manager Sarina Wiegman says her players decided to stop taking the knee before matches because the impact of the anti-racism gesture is “not good enough”.

The Lionesses will not take the knee before their Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy on Tuesday after defender Jess Carter revealed she has been targeted with racist abuse on social media throughout the tournament.

On Sunday, England’s players said they would stop taking the knee as it was “clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism”.

“Taking the knee, that’s not enough. We have done that for a while. The impact is not good enough, it’s not as big as we think,” Wiegman told BBC Sport’s Dan Roan on Monday.

“When there is this form of racism we felt we have to do something else, something different, so that’s why we are not taking the knee.”

England midfielder Georgia Stanway told BBC Sport that the squad will stand at kick-off instead of kneeling.

“We feel like it has gone past that [taking the knee] now,” Stanway said.

“We feel it is still happening even when we are taking the knee. We have decided that we will stand and we will not do that.

“We think that is a way of making change in itself because we want to get people talking – we want to tell people that what is being done isn’t enough.”

Police are investigating the abuse suffered by Carter.

The head of football’s international anti-discrimination body, Fare, questioned England’s decision to stop performing what it considers a “powerful anti-racist act”.

Stanway praised Carter’s decision to go public about the abuse and pledged the support of the squad for their team-mate.

“It’s horrendous,” said Stanway. “It’s really difficult because we will never understand, but we want to create an environment where Jess feels safe and we want her to be able to tell us in those moments where she is experiencing something because as a collective we can be so powerful in order to try and make change.

“That is exactly what we have done now. It is not only Jess thinking about herself, she is thinking about other players, she is thinking about the next generation and it is such an unselfish thing to do to be able to talk about something you are going through in order to try and make change at the end of it.”

During her media conference on Monday, Wiegman confirmed Carter is available to play on Tuesday as England bid to reach a third successive major tournament final.

“Of course we have had a conversation,” said Wiegman. “It’s a hard situation but Jess is a very strong person. She wants to move on too, but she and we felt we had to address this – we can’t let it go. So we did.

“We want to perform in the match, she’s ready to perform and compete. That says a lot about her and the team.”

Speaking to BBC Sport, Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport warned that the Online Harms Act will not root out online racist abuse on its own.

“I’m not going to criticise the Lionesses for one moment – I think they deserve our full support. The decisions they have taken are their decisions,” she said.

“We brought in the Online Harms Act this year to make sure there are sanctions for companies that don’t take this content down and we are doing a lot of work in schools to educate young people about the impact of online abuse, but it’s incumbent on all of us to call this out.

“I think the act will continue to be tested every time a problem surfaces and it’s incumbent on those such as Ofcom and social media platforms to be proactive in rooting this out.

American footballer Colin Kaepernick was the first high-profile athlete to take the knee when he did so during the national anthem before an NFL match in 2016. He said he could not stand to show pride in the flag of a country that oppressed black people.

The anti-racist statement has since become a prominent symbol in sport and during protests.

Taking the knee before football matches became widespread in 2020 following the murder in the US of George Floyd – an unarmed African American man – who was killed during an arrest by white police officer Derek Chauvin.

Speaking on Monday Night Club on BBC Radio 5 Live, former England defender Izzy Christiansen supported the players’ decision to stop taking the knee.

“I think it’s powerful. I like the unity, I like the stance they are choosing to make. The fact they have changed their stance on not taking the knee to standing, I think sends a message in itself,” she said.

“It’s systemic in football, it’s systemic in sport and it needs change. I know it has split opinion but for me personally, it’s a brilliant idea – it represents unity with Jess [Carter] and as a team.

“It is a really clean message that has come across with not much controversy about it. The statement resembles a really clear message and ultimately you don’t want any distractions going into the game. You want to say where you stand as a team and move on with your preparations. What they want to do tomorrow will send a powerful statement.”

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha agreed, but raised concerns.

“I am all for a powerful statement. It is good to have diversity of thought about a situation,” he said.

“My only concern is if Italy decide to stand as well, when the game is about to start it looks like nothing is happening. It then no longer is a conversation starter, it is dead and buried. Essentially what people will see when watching is what happens at the start.