GWENT rugby club Pontypool RFC has told a fan to “find another club” after they condemned Premier League players and other athletes for ‘taking the knee’ before matches.
The nation's top footballers have been ‘taking the knee’ before kick-off since the Premier League resumed in a show of support for the Blacks Lives Matter movement.
The pose has spread widely since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May as a way of showing support for BLM and respect for those killed.
Before a National Women’s Soccer League football match in America last weekend, players took the knee to protest against police brutality and racial injustice in the US.
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However, one player, identified as Samantha Murphy, remained standing when the national anthem was played before the match.
Responding to a picture of her remaining on her feet, the Twitter user said: "More moral fibre than the rest of her teammates combined and more balls than the entirety of the Premier League player pool in the face of Marxist extremism and intimidation...?"
In response, Pontypool RFC chief executive Ben Jeffreys publicly informed the fan they were now banned by the club.
"Find another club to support. You’re no longer welcome at Pontypool RFC and Pontypool Park," he wrote.
"I’ll personally ensure we never sell you a ticket ever again. When I said I would make positive change moving forward, I meant it.
"Good riddance. You won’t be missed."
Manchester City and Arsenal players and officials 'took the knee' last month as the Premier League resumed
In a recent blog post, Mr Jeffreys, who recently opened up about his mental health struggles in the hope he can help others who may be dealing with depression, described the death of Mr Floyd as a "watershed moment" and vowed to help tackle racial inequalities.
"Quite frankly, because of my white privilege, I’d never considered just how much inequality and discrimination truly exists within our communities. In disregarding the issues, I’ve helped normalise them. I’ve become part of the problem," he said.
The 'taking the knee' protest was started in 2016 by American football player Colin Kaepernick.
He knelt for the US national anthem before playing for the San Francisco 49ers to demonstrate against police brutality.
He is believed to have taken the idea from how the American military honour fallen comrades.
UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab was criticised last month for wrongly saying the gesture seemed to be taken from the TV show Game of Thrones.
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