The chairman of the Football Association has resigned after making 'out-dated' remarks about black, gay and female players.
Greg Clarke made the comments at a hearing of the Digital, Media, Culture and Sport committee this morning in Westminster.
The FA chief described black players as 'coloured' and drew criticism for suggesting that being gay was a life choice.
He also said that he had been told there was a lack of female goalkeepers because girls do not like having the ball kicked at them.
Despite apologising, he attracted a raft of criticism from high-profile sports figures and organisations including anti-discrimination group Kick It Out after saying that black and South Asian people had “different career interests” from each other.
The purpose of the FA chief appearing before the committee had been to discuss the governance of the game, particularly related to the financial rescue package from the Premier League to the EFL and also the recent revelations of his involvement in Project Big Picture discussions.
But Clarke ended up creating a new storm for English football with the series of controversial remarks.
Kick It Out executive chair Sanjay Bhandari was scathing in his criticism of the remarks, saying: "I was extremely disappointed to see Greg Clarke’s comments today.
“His use of outdated language to describe black and Asian people as ‘coloured’ is from decades ago and should remain consigned to the dustbin of history.
“Being gay is not a ‘life choice’ as he claimed too. The casual sexism of saying ‘girls’ do not like balls hit at them hard, is staggering from anyone, let alone the leader of our national game. It is completely unacceptable.
“I was particularly concerned by the use of lazy racist stereotypes about South Asians and their supposed career preferences.
“It reflects similar lazy stereotypes I have heard has been spouted at club academy level. That kind of attitude may well partially explain why South Asians are statistically the most under-represented ethnic minority on the pitch.
“Football needs to step up and address this lack of representation of South Asians on the pitch – there has been virtually no progress in 40 years. My experience as a South Asian is that we do not have different career aspirations, but we have different outcomes. Talent is evenly distributed, but opportunity is not.
“The football bodies need to focus on spreading that opportunity evenly and removing the kind of systemic bias that these lazy stereotypes reflect.
“I have seen the good work that the FA have been doing to create a more inclusive game, not least in the Diversity in Football Leadership Code. The FA has rightly been applauded for leading that effort.
“But these comments indicate that more still needs to be done to challenge attitudes. For all the steps made forward recently, the comments expressed today are a big step backwards.”
The FA has now confirmed the chairman has quit.
In a statement, the organisation sid: "We can confirm that Greg Clarke has stepped down from his role as our chairman.
“Peter McCormick will step into the role as interim FA chairman with immediate effect and the FA Board will begin the process of identifying and appointing a new chair in due course.”
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