Leaders need to ‘show their hand’ over racism
LORD OUSELEY is standing down as the chairman of Kick It Out.
The 73-year-old former chair of the Commission for Racial Equality founded the anti-discrimination charity in August 1993.
He will quit the role at the end of the current season.
In a statement announcing his departure, Ouseley challenged football’s leaders to “show they are capable of bringing about lasting change”.
He said: “Now is the right time for new leadership of Kick It Out as I refocus my life for new challenges after 56 years of public service.
“I have thrown challenges at the leaders in football and they need to show their hands – they need to show they are capable of bringing about lasting change if they all come together out of their silos and take a dynamic and coherent approach to meeting the equality challenges.”
Speaking in August on the 25th anniversary of the organisation’s founding, Ouseley admitted removing discrimination from football is a task that he felt would never be completed.
He also gave notice then that he was preparing to retire, saying: “There does come a time and I think that time will come certainly within the next 12 months.”
This time it appears Ouseley will quit, just a few days after the latest incident that required comment from his organisation, when Raheem Sterling was abused during his Manchester City side’s Premier League match at Chelsea last Saturday.
The player later issued a statement accusing the media of fuelling racism in the way it reports certain stories about black players.
City manager Guardiola said yesterday: “I was concerned with what happened, but he made a statement on Instagram and was quite clear about his thoughts.
“He’s an incredible person, an incredible human being.
“It’s tough in the 21st century to still be in this position, to have problems with diversity. We have to be better, everyone.”
Guardiola believes racism is a deep problem in society, of which football is reflective, and it must be combated.
The Spaniard continued: “It’s everywhere, racism is everywhere.
“People focus on football, but it’s not just in football. You’d think in football we’d be safe, but racism is everywhere.”