Latest release Inequalities in Sport

CEO warns there maybe many other BAME victims in sport suffering in silence.

  

Following the recent events surrounding the complaint made by Eniola Aluko to the FA about discriminatory remarks made to her and the subsequent government select committee that interviewed the leadership team at the FA and their handling of the complaint, the CEO of Sporting Equals, the equality charity for sport, has called for other BAME professionals to come forward if they feel discriminated or harassed against in the sport sector. Kang goes on to state that there must be change in the boardrooms of sport to support those suffering in silence.

 

Arun Kang, CEO of Sporting Equals, a charity that works to promote ethnic diversity at all levels in sport, said “Until we have empathy in the boardrooms of sport these issues are going to keep recurring. What's worrying is the amount of BAME professionals who aren't as brave as Eniola Aluko, to come forward and raise a grievance. The lack of diversity in sport at Board level (4% BAME) and in coaching (3%) offers little understanding of race and religious discrimination.

 

Recent audits conducted on the profile of national governing body boards and senior teams show that there is a significant lack of BAME diversity.  The latest figures from Sporting Equals suggest that only 26 out of 601 board positions (4 per cent) have BAME members and out of 68 sports organisations only one has a BAME CEO.  

   

Kang continued, “The only way to increase diversity swiftly is to level the playing field and this would need sport to explore positive action measures such as the Rooney rule. Whilst it is pleasing to see the EFL develop a pilot programme with a small number of professional football clubs, I feel that sport generally, and governing bodies of sport in particular, need to take a closer look at their policies and practices when it comes to equality and diversity because if they don't they are not only putting their reputation at risk, but also letting down their personnel, be it players, coaches, or administrators. 

 

Further details about Eniola Alukos story can be found through clicking on the following link.