The sight of Premier League football teams and match officials taking the knee this week was both moving and heartening. Intended as a mark of respect to George Floyd, the black man killed by a white police officer almost a month ago in Minneapolis, and as recognition of the broader struggle for racial equality, the gesture was well judged and welcome. But action off the pitch now needs to live up to the sentiments expressed on it.
As the season restarts after a three-month hiatus, the Manchester City and England star Raheem Sterling is leading calls for each of the league’s 20 clubs to be required to employ at least one black, Asian or minority ethnic coach on their staff, and for greater representation at boardroom level. Because it would introduce an element of compulsion, this proposal may prove controversial. But a glance at the employment rosters of the country’s biggest football clubs shows why it may be necessary.
Around a third of the 500 or so footballers playing in the Premier League come from a BAME background. But there is only one manager from an ethnic minority – Wolverhampton Wanderers’ coach, Nuno Espírito Santo, who is Portuguese and whose grandfather was black. At England’s 91 league clubs, a grand total of six managers are from an ethnic minority background.
This glaring evidence of under-representation within club hierarchies points to a vicious circle that needs to be broken. BAME footballers who want to continue into management find it disproportionately difficult to get a foot on the coaching ladder and demonstrate their abilities. That in turn means a lack of role models and success stories, which perpetuates the cycle of exclusion. The blockage also has a knock-on pastoral effect for players, who might naturally gravitate towards BAME figures in a club’s hierarchy for advice and support.
The Football Association, which is responsible for England’s national teams, has set an example. Two years ago, it launched a successful diversity and inclusion plan. A 2021 target that 20% of its coaching staff should be from a BAME background has already been achieved. A similar show of ambition from the globally popular Premier League would be a game-changer. So far, the new chief executive, Richard Masters, has stressed that clubs should be free to run their own businesses. But Mr Masters has reportedly been in dialogue with the FA over Mr Sterling’s proposal, which has the backing of other leading players and figures in the game.
He should be applauded for a willingness to engage, but Mr Sterling should keep up the pressure. Gestures such as those witnessed on Premier League grounds this week have their place in raising public awareness. But the battle against institutional bias requires more than moral exhortation and goodwill. The unique appeal and profile of football mean that its administrators can play a vital role in changing cultures of bias and exclusion. The Premier League should take a lead as well as taking a knee.
