Man City star Guehi reveals why he snubbed taking the knee - 'More can be done'

Marc Guehi is "hopeful a bit more can be done" when it comes to tackling racism after making the high-profile decision to stand despite the majority of Premier League players taking the knee over the weekend.

The Manchester City centre-back remained standing on Saturday on what was a weekend that marked the Premier League’s No Room For Racism initiative.

It was pre-agreed this season that the campaign would take centre stage across two weekends in October and players would take the knee, which had been a common action across the Premier League once it returned after the Covid pandemic.

Guehi was joined by Issa Diop, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Bournemouth duo Rayan and Tyler Adams in standing whilst others kneeled.

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Guehi confessed that the taking of the knee, first introduced into the Premier League six years ago, had "maybe" lost its meaning, but he hadn't been the action for some time.

He explained: “I’d always clap just because of what that actually signifies. But in terms of if something can be done, hopefully. I hope we can do a bit more. But we’ll just see. Hopefully the message is still getting out there, which is the most important. I feel like the campaign is still there, which is great. The message is still there, which is great. However, more can be done. More can always be done.

“I think we just have to see how we can move the campaign along. I don’t think it’s necessarily a football issue. I think it’s a wider societal issue. Football is just that beacon of hope to try and get the message out. But whether more can be done, we’ll try. Hopefully with the PFA [Professional Footballers’ Association], with the league, to see what can be done.”

There have been a number of former Premier League players who have criticised the action. Ex-Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha said he wanted to “stand tall” and show his pride at being black.

Former Brentford frontman Ivan Toney said on the action: "We are kind of being used as puppets, in my eyes; take the knee and the people at the top can rest for a while now, which is pretty silly and pretty pointless. Nothing is changing."