Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Robbie Fowler, Moeen Ali, Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt, Stedman Bailey, Jared Cook and Chris Givens. All athletes who have used their status to stand in solidarity with the oppressed.

The reaction by sporting bodies? To condemn and dish out punishments. While the sanctions have varied, it is a shame that they have been forced into silence for speaking out against injustice.

Some of the names are more famous than others. Smith and Carlos will forever go down in history as the two athletes who raised their hand in the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee banned the pair, who went on to play in the US National Football League.

Fowler scored a goal for Liverpool in 1997 and in his celebration lifted up his shirt to reveal a second one, with a message in support of workers on Liverpool’s docks who lost their jobs after a dispute in which they refused to cross a picket line.

The message read: “Support the 500 sacked dockers” and Uefa’s reaction was to fine him 2,000 Swiss Francs. They admitted it would have been more had it not been for his sporting reputation.

Cricketer Moeen Ali wore two wristbands earlier this summer while playing for England against India, one reading “Free Palestine” and the other read “Save Gaza.” Ali caused no harm and to England’s credit they backed their man and allowed him to make his point peacefully.

The same cannot be said for the match referee David Boon, who ordered him to take them off and Ali — peacefully — obliged.

The last five names on that list — Austin, Britt, Bailey, Cook and Givens — are the five players of the St Louis Rams who on Sunday raised their hands in support of the Ferguson protests.

I am a huge fan of the NFL and they have rightfully taken a lot of stick for their handling of Adrian Petersen and Ray Rice, who were accused of beating family members. 

Both players were punished, and while people may argue about the length of the bans, it sent out the message that the league will not tolerate violence against women and children.

However, should the Rams players face any punishment for their actions it will send out the wrong message.

As people we have a right to protest and it extends to athletes. If they feel passionate about something, they should be able to voice their opinion and what better way to do it than in front of a global audience.

World football body Fifa introduced a rule on June 1 this year that players are not allowed to display any personal messages or slogans on shirts underneath their kits.

What is interesting is that, during the talks, “everyone agreed about political or religious statements but on personal statements some of us did consider how far are we going.”

I can understand the reasons for not wanting political messages displayed on T-shirts. No-one wants to see a player lift up his kit to reveal a message supporting Isis or the Holocaust.

But if anyone was stupid enough to do that, they would likely to be banned for life from the sport.

Although in the case of Zimbabwe cricket players Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, who on February 10 2003 wore black armbands in a symbol of defiance against Robert Mugabe to draw attention to human rights abuses in the country, the political backlash was so severe from the government they were forced to flee the country.

And Paulo di Canio showed that you don’t have to scribble a message on a T-shirt to make a totally inappropriate political point and not many people will kick up a fuss.

I support the American Football players raising their hands in solidarity. It was seen by millions of people across the world and they spoke with intelligence after the game, explaining their reasons for doing what they did. 

They may have reached people who wouldn’t normally have given a thought what was going on outside the world of sport and it’s not as if the media always reports on the big issues.  

The BBC showed that they won’t cover every protest, even if the start of the march is directly outside their offices.

They did cover this story but it’s not prominent. On their website you have to scroll far down, past a story about Thierry Henry leaving the New York Red Bulls.

For those who think sports and politics should not be mixed, sometimes the sporting arena is the best place to make a point.

People will forever remember the stand Smith and Carlos took at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and maybe in 50 years’ time people will talk about the five members of the 2014 St Louis Rams.