The Crystal Palace forward; Wilfried Zaha confirmed on Thursday he would stop taking the knee before games.

The 28-year-old will no longer follow the initiative adopted in the Premier League last season after the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. He said; players "should stand tall", and that taking the knee is "degrading".

Last week, Zaha questioned the purpose of taking a knee before the start of matches while speaking to the On The Judy podcast.He also said: "Why must I even wear Black Lives Matter on the back of my top to show you that we matter?

This is all degrading stuff."Speaking at the FT Business of Football summit, he added: "Growing up, my parents let me know I should be proud to be black. We should stand tall."With taking a knee, sometimes people forget we have to do it. It is becoming something we just do.

That is not enough for me."Zaha said he was wary of being used as a mouthpiece for the fight against racism, saying he is asked for interviews in order to "tick a box".Taking the knee has been a common occurrence during games to show solidarity for racial discrimination. However many have criticised the symbolic gesture saying that it allowed "people at the top" to rest on the subject.

Black Lives Matter UK have since supported Zaha's stance; a tweet from the their page read: "We think Wilfried Zaha has a point. Taking the knee without political action is not enough."We are grateful for the symbolic gestures of solidarity but let's not mistake them for real change.Several clubs also taken a step back against taking the knee as before games as they feel; "the gesture against discrimination no longer had the required impact"

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On Friday, Bournemouth became the latest club to announce they would stop making the gesture;with QPR and Middlesbrough the two other sides in the league said to have done so.