The “take the knee” protest during Euro 2020 was a symbolic act of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, signalling, primarily, a call for an end to racial injustice. Aside from the competition on the pitch, the decision by specific national teams to “take the knee”, and the subsequent wave of online hostility aimed at members of the English national team, meant that the protest faced not only vocal support but also a barrage of criticism. With some questioning its political efficacy, its influence on the world of sports, and its broader implications, the protest and the tournament reflected the various complexities encompassing sport’s relation to contemporary political issues, as well as ongoing and future discussions surrounding athlete activism and social justice. The online criticisms, circulating mostly on X [formerly known as Twitter], targeting the concept of “wokeism” and the BLM movement, were driven by alt-right conspiracies, which sought to expose an assumed Cultural Marxist “woke agenda” in the organisation of the tournament and the mainstream media’s coverage of it.
While these criticisms fed into broader political and social issues, highlighting the interconnected nature of online discourses, the alarming ease with which the Cultural Marxist theory found fertile ground in online discourses on sport raises serious concerns…