The plane was flown after players had taken a knee for BLM
Burnley Football Club have announced that they have launched an immediate investigation to find out who is responsible for a plane flown over the Etihad Stadium on Monday night carrying the message ‘White Lives Matter Burnley’.
The club have vowed to issue lifetime bans to those found responsible for the banner which featured a phrase commonly used as a retort by racists against the growing Black Lives Matter movement.
The plane, which is reported to have taken a dummy run the previous night, flew over the stadium minutes after staff and players of Manchester City and Burnley had taken a knee in support of Black Lives Matter.
All Premier League clubs agreed upon the resumption of the league to wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ in place of player names on match shirts for the first round of fixtures.
A ‘White Lives Matter Burnley’ banner was flown over the Etihad Stadium tonight.
Moments earlier, Man City and Burnley players took a knee for the Black Lives Matter movement. pic.twitter.com/xQ1z54ZEcW
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) June 22, 2020
All clubs have also taken a knee at the opening whistle in support of Black Lives Matter. The behaviour of the small minority of Burnley fans in flying the plane over the stadium was met with a furious response by figures within the game, most notably Burnley captain Ben Mee.
“We as a group of players condemn it, we’re ashamed, we’re embarrassed,” Mee told BBC Radio Five Live.
“It definitely had a massive impact on us to see that in the sky. We were embarrassed, disappointed, upset. We are embarrassed that our name was in it.
“That they tried to attach it to our club – it doesn’t belong anywhere near our club. Fans like that don’t deserve to be around football.”
