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Off the pitch it’s very white
30/11/2004
English football clubs and governing bodies could face legal
action if they fail to tackle racism at management and
administration level.
Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality,
said clubs that fail to comply with an anti-racism action plan
would be dealt with using the CRE's statutory powers.
He was speaking at the launch of a CRE report which reveals that
English football has failed to tackle racism within its clubs and
governing bodies. The report, which coincided with the Kick Racism
out of Football week of action, found that despite strong ethnic
minority representation among players, the overwhelming majority of
managers and administrators are white.
Questionnaires circulated among all 92 Premiership and Football
League clubs found that less than one per cent of off-field
positions, including boardroom posts, managers and coaching staff,
were held by non-white employees.
There are only three non-white managers among the 92 clubs, and
every member of the Football Association's board and its 92-member
governing council is white.
The game has a familiar problem with its recruitment policies: 75
per cent of clubs operate informal systems that contribute to the
lack of ethnic minority representation.
Most professional clubs have no equal opportunities training, and
many also lack suitable policies. In a demonstration of the
priority given to equal opportunities, 25 per cent of clubs did not
respond to the questionnaire.
"Football's authorities and clubs are not taking racism seriously
enough," Mr Phillips said. "They are clearly not doing enough to
promote equal opportunities off the pitch and remove the barriers
that prevent ethnic minorities working at all levels of the
sport.
The CRE yesterday also announced details of an action plan which
has been agreed to by the major stakeholders in the game, including
the FA, the Premier League and the Football League.
Under its terms, clubs will have to adopt an equal opportunities
policy by July 2005, review recruitment policy by November 2005,
tackle under-representation by April 2006, and submit to evaluation
by a review team led by the FA.
Mr Phillips warned that if clubs did not comply then action would
be taken. "The game has to reform itself," he said. "Nothing will
change unless people act, and the first thing to do is for clubs
and administrators to write down what the real picture is.
"If we get two years down the line and people have not met the
action plan they have to realise this is not because they didn't
know they had to, it's because they didn't want to, and we are
playing a different game with those people."
Jonathan Hall, director of governance at the FA, welcomed the
report and said it was right to recognise the lack of
representation of ethnic minorities. "The report obviously
highlights areas where there is room for improvement and we
recognise that," he said.
The sports minister, Richard Caborn, said the government supported
the week of action and was confident that the CRE's plan of action
would be embraced. "We have come a long way on the terraces and we
need now to build that into it," he said.
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