Kick It Out says football organizers’ proposals put diversity on the bench

Initial proposals from English football’s independent regulator “put equality, diversity and inclusion on the back burner”, says the head of anti-discrimination body Kick It Out.

The watchdog for the top five tiers of the men’s game is working on a new code of governance, where clubs will have to show what they are doing to address minority underrepresentation in order to gain a licence.

In a correspondence sent to football’s independent regulatory body (IFR) as part of the consultation process – and seen by BBC Sport – Kick It Out claims the proposed measures are “inadequate”.

“[It] “The game doesn’t go far enough in addressing the stubborn challenges the game currently faces,” said Samuel Okafor, CEO of Kick It Out.

“We’ve been really clear with the regulator about the gap that currently exists. The gap is big.

“We’re really concerned that what we saw in the first proposal, in essence, sets up EDI [equality, diversity and inclusion] on the bench, [and] Maintains the status quo.

“It is really important that the regulator uses the powers it has to drive the change we all want to see.”

Among a series of recommendations, Kick It Out says it wants clubs’ workforce diversity data to be published annually, and for each club to be accountable at board level for EDI.

Last month, police confirmed they were investigating after four Premier League players were subjected to racist abuse online over the weekend, and Okafor said the series of events showed why change was necessary.

“It should send a message to the regulators [over] “The importance of EDI is really important, why they need to prioritize it, why they need to take it seriously,” he said.

In response, an IFR spokesperson said it would soon launch a second consultation on its licensing policy, “and it is therefore too early to stress the shortcomings of our approach to EDI”.