Mellon: United players wanted to take a stand against racism

Dundee United manager Micky Mellon said his players refused to take a knee before their 1-0 win over Aberdeen to make a public show of support for Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara.

The Rangers player claimed to have been racially abused by Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela during their Europa League match on Thursday, while teammates received racist abuse on social media after the game.

Prior to kick-off at Tannadice on Saturday, United players declined to take a knee, as teams around the country have done to support the fight against racism.

Mellon said that the players felt the gesture had become empty and they wanted to make a clear signal that they stood with the Rangers players.

“It was a decision by the players and I fully back them,” Mellon said.

“They wanted to stand side by side with their playing mates, if you like, in the Scottish Premiership.

“They made that decision and wanted to show that support for the players at Rangers.

“They felt that there is not enough getting done and taking the knee became a gesture.

“They wanted to take their stand, they want more done about it, they want people or whatever brought to task on it because it is not acceptable.

“We have got all different types of cultures in our team and we wouldn’t accept it here and we want to make sure that we show support for it.

“It is 2021, come on, let’s move on.”

United went on to defeat fourth placed Aberdeen and Mellon said that it was a day that the club could be happy with.

He said:

“Over the course of the 90 minutes we were excellent and did everything required in order to get a great result against a really good Aberdeen team.

“It was another step forward for the development as a team and a club to be the force we want to be in the Scottish Premiership.