Premier League players Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Raheem Sterling, as well as BT Sport pundits, Rio Ferdinand, Eni Aluko, and Ugo Moyne star in the film.

Ugo Monye sitting and talking

BT Sport has marked the anniversary of George Floyd’s death with the release of short film, Time For Change.

Time For Change stars Premier League players Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Raheem Sterling, as well as BT Sport pundits, Rio Ferdinand, Eni Aluko, and Ugo Moyne, reflecting on the Black Lives Matter movement and its impact on sport and society a year after Floyd was murdered by a policeman on 25 May 2020. Musician Kay Young provides the soundtrack.

Monye, in particular, speaks about his own experiences of racism from a very young age and the scars it’s left on himself and his family, and one quote reads: “It’s not just a black people problem, we need everyone to be able to extinguish this. I’m calling on white people, I’m calling people who don’t look like me, people who haven’t been racially abused; a) to understand what it is, b) to understand how it might affect someone else, and then c) to just be bold enough to stand up and speak out… George Floyd’s murder wasn’t just a moment in time, it started a movement and I want that movement to continue.”

Aluko adds: “We’ve seen footballers who are not black come out and talk about race as passionately as if they were black and that always really makes me emotional because we have to be able to empathise and understand and put ourselves in the shoes of other people. We can for the next generation put them in a position where they see people for who they are rather than they have negative stereotypes attached to different races and backgrounds.”

You can watch the film below.