England centre half Tyrone Mings has said that his teammates are out to educate and inform those who are not, in response to Home Secretary Priti Patel’s criticism of the young, multicultural representation of a country - that is today’s England - taking the knee. She accused the national side of participating in what she calls "gesture politics." 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on the other hand, has urging fans to cheer and defend their time - not boo them for taking a knee. This comes after the England players were again booed by some fans – this time prior to their Euro 2020 game against Croatia at Wembley.

"I don't support people participating in that type of gesture politics,” Patel said. "It's all well to support a cause and make your voices heard. Speaking now very much from what I saw in some of the protests last year and the impact on policing. It was devastating."

Despite that Mings – whilst actually being on the receiving end of racism – said: "We have our own set of beliefs. He added: "To the home secretary, I don't really have a direct message.

“Everybody's entitled to their own opinion and she is one of many people that oppose us taking the knee or refuse to defend it. We think about what we can do to help and there will be players that can be influential and can stand up for what we believe in.”

He went on: "We spoke about trying to educate or trying to inform the minority of people who refuse to acknowledge why we're taking the knee and want to do it. The English Football Association had asked fans to respect the players' wishes to highlight racial injustice.