Bhandari rules out stepping into FA post

KICK It Out’s executive chair Sanjay Bhandari has ruled himself out of the running to succeed Greg Clarke as Football Association chairman, but is happy to assist the governing body in finding the right candidate.

Clarke resigned on Tuesday after making a series of offensive remarks during an evidence session with MPs on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, including using the word “coloured”.

Bhandari, who was heavily critical of Clarke’s comments, has made an impressive start to his tenure with the antidiscrimination group but does not believe he is the right person for the FA vacancy.

“I don’t think the FA are going to ask me about the role,” he said.

“I’m still relatively new to football, it’s way too early for someone like me.

“But I am really happy to offer any help they need in identifying the next candidate.”

Meanwhile, a British Asian player says he was called a terrorist by a team-mate – but felt unable to speak out at the time for fear of being branded a “troublemaker”.

Maziar Kouhyar moved with his family to Birmingham as an infant seeking asylum from

Afghanistan and signed professionally for Walsall in 2016.

“We were just training and one of the lads said something to me about being a terrorist,” Kouhyar said.

“I laughed it off, but he said it again. We started pushing each other and the players split us up. A member of staff was there while all this happened, and heard it all and saw it all.

“I didn’t want to bring anything up. I was trying to get into the first team and get more minutes, so I didn’t want to cause any bad blood, any trouble that would stop me from playing.”