Impact Montreal coach Thierry Henry, who returned to competition on Thursday, showed his support for the Black Lives Matter movement by kneeling.
At the start of the match against New England Revolution, as part of the tournament organized by the North American Football League (MLS), Thierry Henry, wearing a “Black Lives Matter” t-shirt, knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds for a tribute to George Floyd, an African-American asphyxiated by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25.
This duration became a symbol of police violence, after having been established as the duration during which George Floyd was kept on the ground by a policeman with his knee, the prosecutors having since estimated the real duration at 7 minutes and 46 seconds.
“I don’t know what we will be allowed to do or not to support the cause (Black Lives Matter). There is something I would like to do but I keep it to myself, “said Thierry Henry last week.
Thierry Henry also wrote in early June a message on his Instagram account in which he called for change to end injustices and racial violence.
The Montreal Impact missed its return to competition by losing to the New England Revolution (0-1). Gustavo Bou scored the only goal of the game (56th) for the New England team, which takes the lead in Group C, also comprising Toronto FC and DC United, whose match is scheduled for Sunday 12 July.
The MLS, suspended after two days in mid-March, resumed Wednesday in a format similar to the World Cup, with group stage and knockout, in a “bubble” at Disney World in Orlando.
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