Tokyo, July 22 (IANS) The Australian women's football team posed with an Aboriginal flag and linked arms while standing on the halfway line to make their own special statement against racism ahead of their opening group match in the Tokyo Olympics against New Zealand.

The team, also known as Matildas, eventually won against their trans-Tasman opponents 2-1.

New Zealand had taken a knee to protest against racism while the Matildas stood opposite them with arms linked in their own special statement.
They also posed with the Aboriginal flag, consisting of red, black and yellow colours.

Two of the players in the Australian team, goalkeeper Lydia Williams and striker Kyah Simon are Indigenous Australians.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had relaxed rules around protests or political statements at the Games ahead of the Tokyo Olympics - allowing athletes latitude outside of competition or dais appearances.

After the match, skipper Sam Kerr mentioned how the idea of hosting the Aboriginal flag came.

"We are really proud of it. It's something we spoke about a lot as a team. We let the Indigenous girls drive it. We didn't want to do something that goes along with the grain, we wanted to do something that was relevant for our country."

Australia are currently second in their group. They now face Sweden on Saturday followed by USA on Tuesday.

--IANS nr/kh