Black Aston Villa star Amadou Onana refuses to take the knee ahead of kick-off against Man City on ‘No Room for Racism’ weekend

Aston Villa midfielder Amadou Onana refused to take the knee ahead of their clash with Manchester City at home on Sunday afternoon.

The Premier League has dedicated all their fixtures between October 18 and October 26 to their No Room For Racism campaign.

In August 2022, the Premier League announced clubs would stop taking the knee before every match following consultations with players and the decision was made to limit the anti-racism gesture to the No Room for Racism match round.

But Onana decided against joining other players and stood tall as the gesture was carried out.

This is not the first time he has done so.

For Everton against Liverpool in February 2023, for example, he stood and raised his fist in the air while others took the knee.

Amadou Onana refused to take the knee for Aston Villa against Manchester City

He is not the first player to refuse this season, either. Last week, Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin refused to take the knee for their match at Burnley, while West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville did the same against Brentford.

Leeds subsequently confirmed to Daily Mail Sport that they had given their players the freedom to choose whether or not to take part.

Anana has unfortunately suffered abuse before. In August 2023, he shared a vile racist message he had received calling him a ‘useless monkey’.

Everton condemned the post and worked alongside Merseyside Police to investigate the incident.