Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso has said he has stopped taking the knee before games, explaining that the gesture has lost strength over time. The 30-year-old has instead decided to point at the ‘no room for racism’ badge on the sleeve of the shirt.

“I am fully against racism and I’m against every type of discrimination, and I just prefer to put my finger to the badge where it says no to racism, like they do in some other sports and football in other countries.” said Alonso, who has not taken the knee in any of the Chelsea games he has played so far. 

When asked about whether he has spoken to his teammates about his decision, Alonso said: “We haven't talked about it. We are in the changing room and we are like a family. I have a very good relationship with everyone. I love everyone and, up to now, we haven't talked about it.”

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel later supported his player’s decision while speaking ahead of the EFL game vs Aston Villa. "The most important thing is I know Marcos personally and I trust him 1000 per cent that he is absolutely committed against racism and any form of racism. There is no question about it. We are all against it.”

Alonso isn’t the only player to decide against taking the knee, however. Back in March, Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha was the first player in the league to choose not to take a knee and instead stand with his hands behind the back while the others knelt. 

“My decision to stand at kick-off has been public knowledge for a couple of weeks now. There is no right or wrong decision, but for me personally I feel kneeling has just become a part of the pre-match routine and at the moment it doesn’t matter whether we kneel or stand, some of us still continue to receive abuse.” read Zaha’s statement.