Werder and Wolfsburg take knee for Floyd, Black Lives Matter

Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg became the latest teams to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of George Floyd when they both took a knee ahead of their Bundesliga clash on Sunday.

Both sides’ starting elevens gathered around the centre circle at the Weser Stadium before dropping to one knee, echoing the gesture made by Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin players and Mainz midfielder Pierre Kunde Malong on Saturday.

With protests against police brutality and for racial equality taking place around the world on Sunday, the Bundesliga has become a stage for tributes to Floyd, a black American man who died last month at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

On Saturday, Dortmund players also wore messages on their T-shirts during their warm-up in honour of Floyd.

Jadon Sancho and Achraf Hakimi wore the messages “no justice, no peace”, while midfielders Axel Witsel and Emre Can’s T-shirts displayed the words “black”, “white” and “yellow” crossed out, with the word “human” below.

Prior to their 4-2 win at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, Bayern Munich players warmed up in T-shirts bearing both the Black Lives Matter hashtag and the slogan of the club’s official “Reds Against Racism” campaign.

Union Berlin’s Nigerian striker Anthony Ujah wrote in an article for German daily FAZ that he was “proud” of the Bundesliga players who staged on-pitch protests, and pledged to do the same if he scores against Schalke on Sunday.