The intention of the England players to kneel before the 2022 World Cup match with the Iranian team has nothing to do with the fight against racism, said the honorary president of the RFU Vyacheslav Koloskov.

Earlier, the head coach of the English national team Gareth Southgate said that the players decided to kneel before the starting whistle, demonstrating the position of the team. The meeting of group B England – Iran will be held at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha on November 21, the game starts at 16:00 Moscow time. Watch the live broadcast of the meeting on the Match TV channel and the matchtv.ru website.

To be honest, I forgot that such a procedure exists. It is very surprising to me that England will kneel before their matches at the World Cup.

The fight against racism is not a policy, but a real and concrete action. I immediately took the action with bewilderment, because we are talking about a specific case with a certain person of a bad reputation.

I was uneasy when this action was introduced, and even in Europe they began to kneel. I saw this as unnatural and had nothing to do with the actual fight against racism. This must be shown in practice, and not in such demonstrative gestures that the British are going to make in Qatar, Koloskov said.

The BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement has intensified after the black American George Floyd died in the United States from the actions of a police officer in 2020. The players kneel before the starting whistle.

The Match TV channel is the exclusive copyright holder of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Russia. As part of an agreement with FIFA, Match TV received the opportunity to broadcast live, use fragments of games on television, broadcast and use highlights on digital platforms, as well as sell advertising inventory in broadcasts. Watch all 64 matches of the tournament on the platforms of Match TV channels.