Thread by @Shahabesque

Lacazette’s Iconic Kneel: Reminiscent of Ancient Sportsmanship

A thread

#RetweeetPlease

1
From the moment Alex Lacazette (@LacazetteAlex) heroically took the knee in front of the standing-in-an-awkward-unity Slavia Prague team, I knew that I saw a similar scene before...

2
But where? Was it a scene from an epic movie/tv-show? Maybe “John Snow” in “The Battle of the Bastards” episode of “Game of Thrones”? No... That Lacazette glare cuts deeper than that... The determination in his face, the elegance of his posture, that adamant focus...

3
It finally dawned on me that I saw the posture in “varzesh-e bāstāni”, an ancient system of athletics originally used to train warriors in ancient Iran (Persia). Throughout the centuries, it was transformed into a sport that promotes sincerity, respect, and sportsmanship...

4
Interestingly, this sport puts “ethical values” first and places ephasis on the importance of “respecting the opponent” as the basis of a fair competition... As a symbol of humbleness, “taking a knee” is the intial step of daily trainings, matches, and competitions

5
The sickening racist behavior of Ondřej Kúdela and Slavia Prague’s hooligan fans towards Glen Kamara (a former Arsenal player), showed the dark side of the modern football. Having the audacity to disrespect a human being, because of the color of his skin, is just abhorrent.

6
But the Arsenal Football Club and its captain of the day, Alex Lacazzete, acted in the most powerful, elegant, and respectful way by taking a knee to show support for the “Black Lives Matter” movement and unintentionally, reminiscing the pinnacle of “varzesh-e bāstāni” values.

7
Arsenal made us proud not only by an emphatic display to defeat @slavia_eng with 4 goals (ironically all coming from black players), but also by vivifying the values of true sportsmanship from a humble and respectful position.

The night in Prague is one to go down in history.