Marc Guehi was on his feet at the Etihad. The England international stood and clapped as his Manchester City teammates and Ipswich opponents took the knee before Saturday’s Premier League fixture, the opening weekend of the competition’s “No Room For Racism” campaign.

Asked afterwards whether the gesture had lost its meaning, he said he had quietly stopped participating in it some time ago.

“Maybe. I haven’t been taking the knee for a while now, to be honest. I’d always clap, just because of what that actually signifies.”

‘More can always be done’

Guehi, one of the Premier League’s senior Black players, said the campaign still mattered to him but needed to push further.

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“I feel like the campaign is still there, which is great. The message is still there, which is great,” he told reporters.

“Whether more can be done? I think more can always be done.”

He pointed to the players’ union and the league as the places where that work should happen, and placed the fight in a wider frame than the sport itself.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a football issue, I think it’s a wider societal issue, but football is just that beacon of hope.”

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Not the only player standing

Guehi was one of four Premier League players who declined the gesture over the weekend. Dominic Calvert-Lewin stayed on his feet before Leeds’ 1-1 draw with Manchester United, with Leeds boss Daniel Farke saying the striker “shows respect by standing up.” Ipswich centre-back Issa Diop and Everton’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles also opted out.

The pattern is not new. Wilfried Zaha stopped taking the knee for Crystal Palace in 2021 and called the gesture “degrading” at the time. What is new is the number of senior Black players reaching the same conclusion in the same weekend, and the fact that the most prominent of them is a sitting England international who moved to the Premier League champions nine months ago.

Guehi, 26, joined Manchester City from Crystal Palace in a January deal confirmed by his former club. He has been a regular starter in the City back four since.

The Premier League has set aside two rounds of fixtures this autumn for its “No Room For Racism” campaign. Saturday was the first; the second round of dedicated matches is scheduled for later this month, when Guehi and the players beside him will have to make the same choice again.

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