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Quinton de Kock out of South Africa team for refusing to take the knee, social media and former cricketers divided: All you need to know

Former cricketer Michael Vaughan disagreed with Quinton de Kock not playing for South Africa in the T20 World Cup because he did not wish to take the knee. Vaughan said that it should be up to the individual.

Quinton de Kock opted out of the South Africa versus West Indies match after Cricket South Africa made it mandatory for players to take the knee before the match. In a follow-up statement, Cricket South Africa had said they had taken note of the cricketer’s stand to refuse to take the knee.

CSA had said in a statement, “All players had been required, in line with a directive of the CSA Board on Monday evening, to “take the knee” in a united and consistent stance against racism. This is also the global gesture against racism that has been adopted by sportspeople across sporting codes because they recognise the power of sport to bring people together.”

“After considering all relevant issues, including the freedom of choice of players, the Board had made it clear it was imperative for the team to be seen taking a stand against racism, especially given SA’s history. The Board’s view was that while diversity can and should find expression in many facets of daily lives, this did not apply when it came to taking a stand against racism,” the statement had read.

Commentators Pommy Mbangwa and Darren Sammy on Quinton de Kock

“I dare say Daren that cricket will take a back seat,” Mbangwa said. “I know it’s a big statement for me to make at a Cricket World Cup, I speak because the team concerned are South Africa, with a history of exclusion and racism. And for this as an issue to still be here, and to rear here, well it’s huge.”

He continued, “Excuse me for being political, because some will say it is being political, but I cannot shed my skin… I hope that the discussion at the very least can be had about how to be united about something everyone can agree on.. This is also in the hope that they can be in agreement in this regard.”

“I’ll say this with regard to Quinton de Kock. Freedom of choice is fair enough. I don’t know what to speculate on what the personal reasons are because I haven’t got those, but I hope the discussion is actually had,” said Mbangwa.

Darren Sammy said, “Sometimes I don’t understand why it is so difficult to support this movement if you understand what it stands for. There might be a lot of issues affecting the world. But I don’t understand why it’s so difficult.”

Social media divided on the issue

Former cricketer Michael Vaughan disagreed with Quinton de Kock not playing for South Africa in the T20 World Cup because he did not wish to take the knee. Vaughan said that it should be up to the individual.

A lot of people on social media agreed with Michael Vaughan.

Others, however, sided with CSA.

The move to take the knee has been a controversial issue in sports for quite some time. Even during the recently held Football Euro 2020 Championship, many countries had refused to take the knee. It had also led to fans booing their teams for the gesture.

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OpIndia Staff
OpIndia Staffhttps://www.opindia.com
Staff reporter at OpIndia

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