"Of course," replied this ancient scribe. "Just as long as you help me up afterwards!"

It may have been a light-hearted response to a very serious issue, but yes, I do understand what is going on in the world right now. I am vehemently anti-racism and have been after being brought up by a liberal-minded father who, as the manager of the sawmill department of a well-known furniture manufacturer, was among the first to employ a Jamaican immigrant following the arrival of the Windrush generation in 1948.

Some 10 years on my dad promoted this very pleasant Jamaican lad named Joe to be his assistant, an action which caused other workers in the company to send them both to Coventry - that is, refusing to speak to them - for a year.

The memory of such blatant prejudice has remained ingrained in my consciousness, which is why I have always campaigned against any form of it in my career as a sportswriter. But to my dad it was not just a case of Black Lives Matter, but of black livelihoods too.

This is now evidenced in both instances by the return of football behind closed doors both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Not only has it been a platform to take the knee in protest, it also provides full-time employment again for players of all colours and creeds.

No one, except extreme right-wing columnists, seems to object to players of both sides dropping to one knee for a few moments between when the referee blows his whistle for the kick-off and getting on with the game. Mind you, as one of the scribes did point out, what happens if one player decides not to take the knee any but instead dribbles his way through the stationary field and pops the ball into the goal? Would it count? It is I thought I leave with you.

Other professional sports will be returning shortly too - horse racing already has, in some instances with the jockeys taking the knee before mounting the steeds. So far none have forced the horse to follow suit!

Boxing will be back in action here in the UK on July 10 - it already is in underway in Las Vegas - from a television studio. Normally we see fighters "take the knee" in pugilistic parlance when they use the refuge of a count when under pressure and need a breather. But now they have been given the go-ahead by the British Boxing Board of Control, and the sport’s international authorities, to follow the football fashion as a mark of support for Black Lives Matter.

And when cricket returns to the crease later this summer, may TTK (taking the knee) go into cricket lore alongside LBW?

As for athletics, with vehemently anti-racist Sebastian Coe presiding over such a black-dominated sport, you cannot imagine him forbidding any such protests in events under his jurisdiction.

The point is the gesture seems to have been formally approved by all sports ruling bodies, with one exception. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) of course. Couldn’t you guess?

This despite the Commonwealth Games Federation saying that athletes will be allowed to take the knee in support of worldwide anti-racism movements following the demise of George Floyd, the black man killed on May 25 after a white policeman, now charged with second-degree murder, knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Plus the National Football League (NFL) has now done a U-turn and publicly apologised for stopping players from kneeling as an anti-racism protest during the national anthem.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has admitted the organisation made a mistake by "not listening to NFL players earlier" and encouraged all to speak out and peacefully protest, before adding that "I personally protest with you and want to be part of this much-needed change in this country."

Without black players there would be no NFL.

Colin Kaepernick, the American football star who started kneeling during the national anthem to protest against police brutality and racism, was the face of Nike's "Just Do It" campaign for its 30th anniversary, yet remains an NFL free agent without a team.

Earlier this month the IOC said it will be sticking to its threat to ban athletes at Tokyo 2020 for taking the knee in peaceful solidarity. Its says the guidelines haven’t changed despite international laws that defend the rights of peaceful protest and free speech and despite such protests unfolding worldwide, leading to the shift of other sports organisations into supporting them.

The IOC has published guidelines banning any protest at the Tokyo Games, including raising a fist or refusing to follow protocol at medal ceremonies.

Of course this follows the black-gloved gesture in Mexico in 1968 by the black American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the podium, which so infuriated the IOC President at the time, the aptly nicknamed 'Slavery' Avery Brundage. The IOC sent Smith and Carlos home in disgrace.

You would think that by now, with all that has happened involving racism, notably in the United States, the IOC would have apologised and recognised that this was a particularly appropriate demonstration of the time.

Under current IOC regulations, athletes are allowed to express political opinions in official media settings or on social media, but banned from doing so on the field of play, at ceremonies or in the Olympic Village. The IOC says athletes who break the rules will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis so will not speculate on hypothetical cases.

So how about this for a hypothetical scenario in Tokyo? It may sound improbable, but it is by no means impossible. As the Opening Ceremony begins, the whole contingent of competitors from 200-odd nations, totalling some 10,000 or more, march into the stadium. They wait patiently during the ceremonies and interminable displays of Japanese culture and international showbiz, then just before the IOC anthem is played with the raising of the Olympic flag, every single one of them takes a knee and raises his or her right fist in salute of Black Lives Matter.

What can the IOC do if their bluff is called? Summon an immediate media conference to announce that the competitors are all suspended under the regulations? In which case, no Games. What COVID-19 couldn’t do, the IOC would have themselves achieved.

It doesn’t bear thinking about, but I’m afraid the IOC, if they do not change their stance, may well have to think long and very hard about it.

Of course the Black Lives Matter movement may well have petered out by then but it is far more likely that in fact it will have escalated - particularly if the Donald continues his bigoted Trumpeting and is actually re-elected, his red-necked Republicans being more influential in the US than blue-collared Democrats.

And what a wonderful moment it would be if Trump, witnessing the mass demo from his seat in the VIP box at the Olympic Stadium, gets up and walks out in a huff. Let the IOC pick the political bones out of that!

Will Black Lives Matter bring the IOC to its senses, or its knees?