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TYRONE Mings says the England team want to “educate and inform” in response to criticism from Home Secretary Priti Patel for taking the knee.
The England players were booed by some fans prior to their Euro 2020 game with Croatia at Wembley on Sunday.
Patel accused the side of participating in “gesture politics” despite the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, urging fans to “cheer them” and not boo.
“We have our own set of beliefs,” Mings said.
In an interview with GB News, Patel said: “I just don’t support people participating in that type of gesture politics to a certain extent.
“It’s all well to support a cause and, you know, make your voices heard, but actually, quite frankly, and we saw last year in particular with some of the the protests that took place, I speak now very much from what I saw and the impact on policing. It was devastating.”
The Football Association had asked fans to respect the players’ wishes to highlight racial injustice.
Boos on Sunday were met by an ovation from the majority of the 22,500 crowd.
“To the home secretary, I don’t really have a direct message,” added Mings.
“I mean we spoke, actually she invited me on to a Zoom call once, where she seemed so interested and engrossed in the players’ point of view and what we could do more to tackle these sort of issues.
“But at the same time, everybody’s entitled to their own opinion and she is one of many, many people that oppose us taking the knee or refuse to defend it.
“We think about what we can do to help and there will be players that can be influential and can stand up for what we believe in.
“We spoke about trying to educate or trying to inform the minority who refuse to acknowledge why we’re taking the knee and want to do it.
“At the same time, at Wembley there was a hugely positive reaction to us taking the knee as well and I don’t think that should be overshadowed by the minority that refuse to accept what the reasons are, or don’t agree with them.”
The Football Association had released a statement asking fans not to boo the England players after they were jeered during two warm-up matches in Middlesbrough earlier in the month.
Scotland will join England in taking the knee when the teams meet at Wembley on 18 June, but will stand against racism in their home group matches.
BBC Sport
– June 16, 2021 @ 08:24 GMT |
Tags: Tyrone Mings: England want to 'educate and inform' says defender on taking the knee
