Real Madrid’s Marcelo shows support for Black Lives Matter movement in goal celebration
After a number of stars in Germany’s Bundesliga voiced their support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in recent weeks, Real Madrid’s Brazilian international Marcelo made his own individual act of solidarity on Sunday.
With Real 2-0 up against Eibar, Marcelo netted Los Blancos’ third goal and celebrated by kneeling and raising his fist.
Both actions echoed those of past athletes’ protests.
While playing for the San Francisco 49ers, former NFL star Colin Kaepernick knelt during the US national anthem to protest police brutality against African Americans.
And by raising his fist Marcelo also paid homage to a symbol of black protest and liberation. Notably, Olympic medal winners John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their fists on the podium at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City during the US national anthem.
The gesture has been adopted many times since, and many have raised their fists during the Black Lives Matter protests in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.
La Liga title race
Real won 3-1 to remain two points behind leaders Barcelona as the Madrid club’s coach Zinedine Zidane brought up his 200th game in charge in unusual surroundings.
With the Bernabeu stadium being renovated, the club are playing the remainder of their home games at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano, a 6,000-seater located at Real’s training ground.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and La Liga had announced prior to the league’s resumption that prior to play, teams at all levels of Spanish football would hold a minute’s silence to remember victims of the coronavirus pandemic.
At time of writing, Spain has 243,928 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 27,136 deaths but fewer than 50 new cases in the past 24 hours.
