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First used by NFL player Colin Kaepernick as a protest during the United States national anthem before a game in 2016, the gesture of "taking the knee" has been adopted as a symbol of protest and a call to action against racial inequality. During a March 2021 survey among soccer fans across Europe, the majority of respondents were aware of the reasons for players choosing to kneel on one knee before matches. In England, 90 percent of soccer fans were familiar with the gesture, while this figure dropped to 52 percent among soccer fans in Portugal.

Public awareness of the reasons for professional soccer players taking the knee before matches in selected European countries as of March 2021

Characteristic	Familiar	Don't know	Not familiar
Wales	92%	2%	6%
England	90%	4%	6%
Scotland	88%	4%	9%
France	69%	6%	25%
The Netherlands	69%	3%	28%
Spain	69%	5%	27%
Germany	54%	9%	36%
Italy	54%	7%	39%
Portugal	52%	8%	40%

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Release date

June 2021

More information

Region

Europe

Survey time period

February 23 to March 31, 2021

Number of respondents

11,362 respondents

Age group

18 and over

Special properties

among soccer fans

Method of interview

Online survey

Supplementary notes

This question was phrased by the source as follows: "How familiar, if at all, are you with the reasons why professional football players and staff in some countries are choosing to kneel on one knee before matches?"

Missing percentage points to 100 percent are probably due to rounding.

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