This archive report was first published on 18 June 2020.
On June 17, 2020, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola expressed his deep regret over the historical treatment of black people in football, saying he was 'embarrassed and ashamed' of the way they had been treated.
The Premier League returned with a show of solidarity against racial injustice, with players and coaches from all four teams taking a knee prior to kick off to support the Black Lives Matter campaign.
The action was in response to worldwide protests following the killing of African American George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Black Lives Matter was also emblazoned on the back of shirts instead of player names, a powerful statement against racism in football.
Guardiola told Sky Sports, 'We should send a thousand million messages for the black people. It's more than 400 years we do what we do to these lovely people.'
He added, 'I'm embarrassed and ashamed of what the white people have done for the black people. Just because you are born a different colour, how people can think they are different? All the gestures are good and positive.'
Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling, a leading campaigner in the fight against racism in football, backed the united front as a significant step forward.
'I see it as a massive step for the Premier League to allow something like that to happen,' said Sterling. 'It shows we are going in the right direction.'
Sterling scored his first goal of 2020 to open the scoring as City restarted with a 3-0 win over Arsenal.
