FOOTBALL BODIES URGED TO ‘VALUE INCLUSION’
NEW Kick it Out chief executive Tony Burnett has urged the incoming Football Association chair and players’ union chief to value inclusion as it is ‘massively important’.
“I’d absolutely love to see a black person or a person from an ethnic minority background in one of those roles because they came through a process which is open, fair and transparent and are the best person for the job,” he told BBC Sport.
“But irrespective of the person’s background, have they got the right values and experience to drive inclusion forward in the way that we need to as a game. In 2021, leaders of organisations, especially organisations in important positions such as (the FA and PFA), should not be appointed if they haven’t got a pedigree in that field.”
Former FA chairman Greg Clarke resigned in November after ‘unacceptable comments’ about black players. Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor will leave his role after 40 years, with both jobs set to be filled this spring.
Burnett, who joined the anti-racism charity last month, believes that the appointments are ‘less about representation’.
The FA chair and PFA chief executive roles have only ever been held by white men. In October, the FA launched a football diversity code where clubs and organisations would have to meet a recruitment diversity target of 15 per cent in new executive jobs.
One of those who helped develop the code was former Chelsea defender Paul Elliott, who is also the head of the FA’s inclusion advisory board and has been tipped to replace Clarke. “There are more people called Dave than there are female chairs of our top 100 organisations,” he said. “There’s no way that’s meritocratic.”
He also wants to challenge the notion that a black person in a senior role is ‘representing the whole of the black community’. “This applies to black players, black managers and black leaders across the world of football. When they’re appointed it’s because they are the best person for the job, and they happen to be black,” Burnett told BBC Sport. “They’re not representing the whole of the black community.”
Burnett, who helped launch Kick It Out’s new three-year strategy last week, said that players would continue to be a key voice in the fight against discrimination, and the organisation would be appointing a players’ advisory board to help in its mission.
It comes as AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic told NBA basketball star LeBron James to stay out of politics and stick to sport after speaking about racial injustice.