Burnley have condemned the incident in which a plane carrying a banner reading, ‘White Lives Matter Burnley’ flew over Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium at the start of Monday’s Premier League game.

The message was in contrast with the Black Lives Matter campaign which EPL teams joined since the restart of the season last week to protest racial injustice following the death of George Floyd, an African-American man.

In a statement, the club said:

Burnley Football Club strongly condemns the actions of those responsible for the aircraft and offensive banner that flew over The Etihad Stadium on Monday evening.

We wish to make it clear that those responsible are not welcome at Turf Moor.

This, in no way, represents what Burnley Football Club stands for and we will work fully with the authorities to identify those responsible and issue lifetime bans.

The club has a proud record of working with all genders, religions and faiths through its award-winning Community scheme, and stands against racism of any kind.

We are fully behind the Premier League’s Black Lives Matter initiative and, in line with all other Premier League games undertaken since Project Restart, our players and football staff willingly took the knee at kick-off at Manchester City.

We apologise unreservedly to the Premier League, to Manchester City and to all those helping to promote Black Lives Matter.