Premier League clubs set to DITCH Black Lives Matter badges on their sleeves when top flight returns

Premier League clubs set to DITCH Black Lives Matter badges on their sleeves when top flight returns… but players will be free to continue taking a knee if they wish

  • All 20 clubs carried the BLM logo on the kit during every game of Project Restart 
  • But Sportsmail has learned there are no plans for symbol to be used next season
  • The Premier League are currently planning to champion diversity in other ways 
  • Clubs will discuss plans for another anti-discrimination campaign on Thursday 

Premier League clubs are set to drop the controversial Black Lives Matters slogan from players’ shirts when the delayed 2020-21 season begins next week. 

All 20 clubs showed their support for the global anti-discrimination campaign by carrying the BLM logo on their kit during every game of Project Restart, but Sportsmail has learned that there are no plans for the symbol to be used on shirts next season, with the Premier League planning to champion diversity in other ways.

The clubs will discuss plans for another anti-discrimination campaign at their shareholders’ meeting on Thursday, which as Sportsmail revealed on Wednesday will also feature a vote on how the season should be curtailed in the event of another shutdown. 

Premier League clubs are set to drop the Black Lives Matter slogan from players’ shirts

Premier League stars will be permitted to continue taking the knee next season if they wish

Premier League stars will be permitted to continue taking the knee next season if they wish

Players will be permitted to continue taking the knee if they wish, as Arsenal and Liverpool did before last weekend’s Community Shield, but that is likely to be left as a matter for individual clubs rather than being mandated by the Premier League.

The inspiration for the BLM slogan came from a meeting of the top-flight captains in June, with the clubs initially printing the words on the back of shirts in place of the players’ names before shifting to a BLM badge on the shirt sleeve, but a well-meaning gesture of solidarity following the shooting of George Floyd proved to be controversial. 

The Premier League were forced to issue a statement two weeks into Project Restart at the end of June in which they pointed out that they were not endorsing the views of Black Lives Matter UK, a radical political group who have called for the defunding of the police and the abolition of capitalism. 

‘We do not endorse any political organisation or movement, nor support any group that calls for violence or condones illegal activity,’ the statement read.

The Premier League have taken other steps to support greater diversity and in July appointed Paul Cleal as an equality advisor to their Board, with a brief to advise on anti-discrimination policy, programmes and the progression of BAME coaches and executives within the league.

All 20 clubs carried the Black Lives Matter logo on their kit during every Project Restart match

All 20 clubs carried the Black Lives Matter logo on their kit during every Project Restart match