22 Jul 2021

Tokyo Olympics: Football Ferns kneel before first game

From Morning Report, 8:57 am on 22 July 2021

The Football Ferns kneeled before their opening match of the Tokyo Olympics against Australia last night - a gesture known as a call for racial equality in sport.

One of the first events of the Olympic games, Australia's Matildas beat New Zealand's womens' football team 2-1, in a match which started about 11.30pm on Wednesday (NZT).

The Football Ferns political gesture before the game makes them some of the first Olympic athletes to advocate for social justice under new IOC guidelines, allowing politicially-motivated gestures at the games.

Sociologist Professor Douglas Hartmann, the chair of Sociology at the University of Minnesota, spoke to Guyon Espiner.