No action against Sancho, Hakimi, Mckennie and Thuram for George Floyd tributes

The DFB has announced that Jadon Sancho, Achraf Hakimi, Weston McKennie and Marcus Thuram will be facing no action for their anti-racism protests over the weekend.

The control committee of the German Football Association has announced that they will not be sanctioning Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Achraf Hakimi, Schalke’s Weston McKennie, Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Marcus Thuram, or any other player who takes a stand against racism in the coming match days.

Jadon Sancho and Achraf Hakimi both displayed t-shirts saying, “Justice for George Floyd” after scoring in Borussia Dortmund’s 6-1 win over Paderborn on Sunday. While United States international Weston Mckennie wore an armband with the same message during Schalke’s game against Werder Bremen. Marcus Thuram also joined in the protests by taking a knee following his goal for Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The quartet were protesting against racism and demonstrating their solidarity with George Floyd, who died in the United States, after a policeman knelt on his neck even though he repeatedly said that he could not breathe.

Mckennie told Forbes earlier this week that he felt it was his responsibility to raise awareness on the issue.

"He said, “I was like, ‘I’m not taking it off’. There’s a rule in the league that you can’t make political statements. But I mean, if you really, really look at this as a political statement, then I don’t know what to tell you.”“The league and everyone always preaches ‘say no to racism’. So I didn’t think that there would be a problem. If I have to take the consequences to express my opinion, to express my feelings, to stand up for what I believe in, then that’s something that I have to do.”"

FIFA rules dictate that players are not allowed to have any political, religious or personal slogans or statements on their kits or other equipment on the pitch. But after examining the cases and obtaining comments from the players concerned, the DFB made the decision not to initiate any preliminary proceedings.

"DFB President Fritz Keller described the decision as “far-sighted”, saying, “I expressly welcome the decision of the DFB control committee and am very pleased about it. The DFB firmly stands against all forms of racism, discrimination and violence and stands for tolerance, openness and diversity – values that are also anchored in the DFB statues. So the actions of the players have our respect and understanding.”"

Yesterday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino called for football organisations to use common sense and consider the context surrounding the events. Infantino also said that the actions of the Bundesliga players deserve “applause and not a punishment.”