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There were boos from sections of the Turf Moor crowd when Burnley and Leeds players took the knee ahead of their Premier League clash on Saturday afternoon, with Leeds’ Dominic Calvert-Lewin refusing to take the knee.
In a bid to reiterate their commitment to tackling discrimination and highlighting the importance of diversity in football over the next two weeks, all fixtures between October 28 and 26 have been dedicated by the Premier League and its clubs to the No Room For Racism campaign.
It’s the first time this season that the knee has been taken by clubs.
In August 2022, the Premier League stopped taking the knee before every match following consultations with players and the decision was made to limit the anti-racism gesture to No Room for Racism match round.
There was applause and a small number of boos at the Stadium of Light before Sunderland’s clash with Wolves.
The gesture was received with gentle applause from the crowd at Brighton, who were hosting Newcastle, and passed without reaction at Manchester City’s clash with Everton at the Etihad and Crystal Palace’s home game against Bournemouth.
Players who took the knee at Turf Moor were both applauded and booed by fans on Saturday
Burnley and Leeds performed the gesture ahead of kick-off - and it brought a mixed reaction
The gesture was made in support of the Premier League's No Room For Racism campaign
Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin refused to take the knee ahead of the match at Turf Moor
There was also no crowd reaction at Nottingham Forest’s lunchtime clash with Chelsea – where all players took knee except for Forest goalkeeper Mats Sels who did not appear to realise the gesture was happening as he was busy trying to hang his towel on his goal net.
Ange Postecoglou was sacked by Forest just 19 minutes after the 3-0 defeat by Chelsea, who earned their third successive win on the bounce.
