FA board member Heather Rabbatts hits out at Greg Dyke's all-white panel

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FA board member Heather Rabbatts hits out at Greg Dyke's all-white panel
FA director Heather Rabbatts urges chairman to address 'shocking' lack of diversity on high-profile commission

The credibility of Greg Dyke’s commission into the state of English football suffered a serious blow on Friday night after one of his Football Association board broke ranks to denounce its composition and demand urgent action to address its lack of ethnic diversity.

In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport, Heather Rabbatts – the FA’s first female and currently the only ethnic minority director – claimed Dyke’s announcement of an all-white panel had seriously harmed the organisation’s reputation at what she described as one of the most significant moments in its history.

Putting her future in jeopardy with a major breach of the principle of collective responsibility at the FA, Rabbatts accused her new chairman of failing to heed her advice to ensure his commission was as diverse as possible.

“I’ve raised this matter from the very beginning,” said Rabbatts, who was “shocked” by the list and “disappointed” at former BBC director general Dyke’s failure to consult in advance with the FA board.

“This is a commission that will report to the board, is appointed by the board. If you’re going to have that process then the board should be consulted.

“I know that from the calls I have been receiving people are feeling let down and upset and, from my perspective, it is crucial that this commission, if it is to have credibility, addresses this as an urgent priority.”

Claiming her “personal integrity” was at stake, she added: “You’ve got a whole bunch of people saying, ‘Why didn’t Rabbatts say anything?’ She’s this person who talks about issues of racial abuse on the field of play, she talks about anti-discrimination’. In the end, you think, ‘I can’t not say anything’.

Despite raising her concerns at board level, Rabbatts feared the matter would continue to be mishandled unless she spoke out publicly, having been inundated by complaints from players and others within football since Dyke announced the first eight names on his commission on Thursday last week.

Rabbatts confirmed she was not consulted at all about those names, which Dyke read out from a scribbled note at the Leaders in Football Conference at Stamford Bridge.

The credentials of the participants were immediately questioned, then more serious concerns were soon expressed about its lack of non-white faces, something the FA insisted Dyke had attempted to address in advance and would continue to do when appointing its final one or two members.

But Rabbatts, who was present when Dyke unveiled his list but had no knowledge of the names involved, insisted he should have never made the announcement before finalising the commission and admitted there was now a danger of any ethnic-minority addition being seen as tokenistic.

“I have huge respect for Greg, I knew him from the BBC, I was somebody who always championed his cause and was delighted by his arrival as chairman. I am sure he is trying to do the right thing but I feel disappointed in the way that it is being handled.”

Admitting the problem was exacerbated by the lack of marquee names on the commission, which includes Danny Mills, Rabbatts insisted any forum that might shape the future of English football needed to represent the community it serves.

“I’ve no doubt people are being spoken to and have been spoken to who would give the commission diversity, but to present a list that was white men felt, to me, a major, major problem,” she said.

“The way it has happened I know has undermined the commission from the outset, because we all really wanted this. It’s somewhat on the back foot and it needs to try to find a way of repairing this damage.”

Citing Jason Roberts as an example of someone who would improve the commission, she added: “Urgently addressing it is not about getting one black player who then has to have all the responsibility for this issue. It’s actually to say this matter has to be centre stage in the deliberations of the commission.”

Rabbatts, who has an English father and Jamaican mother, says “the issue of race is running through my veins”, became an independent FA board member almost two years ago.

She was instrumental in John Terry being stripped of the England captaincy for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, as well as increasing punishments for discriminatory behaviour and helping to spearhead inclusivity programmes.

Asked whether the FA had gone backwards with that agenda in recent days, she said: “We’ve certainly not made progress and, for many people out there, it looks like we’ve gone backwards.”

Pressed over whether the episode might suggest an element of unwitting institutional racism at the FA, she added: “I get very nervous about using those words, for a whole range of reasons.

“Why do you need to have diverse boards? One of the reasons is that when those sorts of lists are produced, there is an instant response that says, ‘Hang on a minute’.

“We hope there will come a time when it should be the instinctive response of everybody. But we know that’s a journey we’re all still on.”

Insisting she had thought “long and hard” before breaking ranks, she said: “These are difficult moments in one’s life because I am somebody who believes it’s very important to share collective responsibility.

“I’m prepared to work on the inclusion agenda at the FA, I was absolutely part of that and want to champion it and am happy to champion it. But that means, at times, the FA has to have a bit of an uncomfortable moment and you’ve got to listen to some dissent.

“In my view, I’m doing it as constructively as I can. But you have to listen to it. Change has to happen.”

Rabbatts also believes England manager Roy Hodgson will learn from his “clumsy” use of the word “monkey” during his half-time team talk against Poland. Hodgson told the joke in an attempt to stress the importance of Andros Townsend to the team and although he insisted no offence was meant, he has since apologised to the player. Rabbatts felt Holdgson had done the right thing.

“Roy’s apology, based on the fact that it was a clumsy use of language, has been the correct response. I’m sure he will learn from it.”

From Jamaica to the FA

As a mixed-race woman, Heather Rabbatts has spent most of her life breaking glass ceilings. Born in Jamaica in 1951, she moved to England aged three and despite leaving school with just five O-Levels, studied at evening classes and eventually won a place at the London School of Economics.

She became a barrister in 1981 and was then the youngest council chief executive in the country, at Merton and Lambeth.

She was appointed executive chairwoman of Millwall Holdings plc in 2006 and became the first woman director on the FA board in 2011.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...ite-panel.html

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FA commission is all white and that's not all right - having no black players on panel is an own goal

The FA likes to bang the politically-correct PR drum when it comes to tackling racism in football but in reality there doesn’t seem too much substance to Kick It Out if the new commission to solve the problems of the England team is anything to go by.

The composition of the eight-man commission FA chairman Greg Dyke announced last week was bland enough to start with, prompting Gary Lineker to brand it pointless.

But after four new men were invited to take part on Sunday, it suggests that a commission now needs to be set up to examine whether in fact there is institutionalised racism at the FA.

Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have been asked to join former England boss Glenn Hoddle, ex-Leeds manager and FA technical director Howard Wilkinson, former England defender Danny Mills, Football League chairman Greg Clarke, new Professional Footballers’ Association chairman Ritchie Humphreys, Crewe director of football Dario Gradi, FA vice-chairman Roger Burden and Dyke.

Notice anything? Yes that’s right. They are all white. It’s a stunning own goal by the FA.

Racism may have had no part in the issuing of invitations, but the FA appears to have lost an opportunity to show how seriously it takes the issue.

This is not US-style ‘Rooney Rule’ argument here. Many former black players are not in favour of quota systems to fast track them into managerial or coaching roles, although those who do argue for it now have much more power to their elbow.

Not one black face on the commission? Not one current black player, not one former black player, not one black manager current or former. Not a one black coach?

How can that be when British black players are so much part of the fabric of English football?

Take Chris Ramsey the former Brighton player who is now a senior figure at the Tottenham academy. He’s been working in youth development for the past 20 years. He just might be worth listening to.

Or Ugo Ehiogu. Not long retired the former England defender has even worked for the FA as an observer at Under 20 level but is not on this panel. Maybe Dyke hasn’t heard of them.

But given his TV background Dyke will surely have heard of Ian Wright. Why has Wright, who knows what it is like to overlooked as a teenager but still come into the game late and make it the top, not been invited?

Or why has his old strike partner Mark Bright who helps coach the Crystal Palace kids and keeps close tabs on the game in his various media roles not been given a call?

Or Ferdinand. That could be ex-England striker Les, who works with young players at Spurs, or former England captain Rio.

Or England’s first black captain, Blackpool boss Paul Ince, who has unique experience having seen his son Thomas rise to the top.

Or Viv Anderson or Cyrille Regis, or John Barnes or PFA deputy chief executive Bobby Barnes, or Ruud Gullit… the list could go on and on and that is because there is no shortage of black football people who could bring something to the table.

But no, not one.

A few weeks ago Sol Campbell suggested he might have to go abroad to pursue a career in coaching. At the time it seemed more a case of self-promotion.

So maybe Sol does have a point. Surely he could bring something to this commission. But no.

Campbell came out last week, rather diplomatically saying he wished this commission had been more ‘diverse’.

The FA’s response was to add two current England internationals Gerrard and Lampard, and two foreign managers Wenger and Mourinho.

A judge in Alabama wouldn’t allow a 12 person all-white male jury to sit would he? But it seems the FA top brass think the ethnic diversity of this commission is all right.

Football has been at the vanguard of challenging racism in this country and breaking down barriers over the past four decades.

The FA like to promote Kick It Out T-shirts and badges but beneath the ‘Do the Right Thing’ campaign they and the do-gooders tie themselves up in knots when it comes to core issues of racism as we have seen in the cases of Suarez, Terry, and a satirical after-dinner comedian.

But when it comes to such a big issue, appointing a state of the nation committee to help forge the future of the English football it’s as if the FA’s mentality has travelled back to 1973 when, as TV man Dyke will remember well, the Black and White Minstrel Show was the big hit on a Saturday night before Match of the Day.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...arnes-etc.html

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Carlisle: Rio's appointment to controversial FA commission is just a token afterthought

Clarke Carlisle, the campaigner against racism in football, has slammed the appointment of Rio Ferdinand to the Football Association's England commission as 'an afterthought and tokenism'.

He said the make-up of the nine-strong, all-male body was 'out of kilter' with society.

Carlisle, 33, dubbed 'Britain's Brainiest Footballer' and an ambassador for the Kick It Out campaign, said: 'This is a new commission formed in the past month.

'How can the issue of diversity and representation not be factored into the initial composition and announcement of it?

'The way that Greg Dyke handled the whole declaration was really poor.'

Speaking at a book signing in support of his autobiography at Burnley's University College of Football Business on Monday, Carlisle said FA chairman Dyke's handling of the situation had been 'poor'.

'Even though Rio Ferdinand is now on there as a representative of the black and minority ethnic community, the way that it came about - even though it might not be - smacks of an afterthought and tokenism, which totally undermines what he's doing.'

Asked about England manager Roy Hodgson's 'space monkey' joke in relation to Spurs winger Andros Townsend meanwhile, Carlisle said: 'It's a bona fide story but my opinion is that it's a perfectly viable anecdote which has been misconstrued.

'We have to be careful. We can't eradicate an animal from existence just because of how delicately someone interprets a situation.

'It's very serious and there are so many other things about that situation that give us cause for concern like the fact the player (who reported it to the media) couldn't go through the official channels.'

Carlisle's book - You Don't Know Me, But... A Footballer's Life - details his battle with depression and alcohol addiction.

The former England Under 21 international, now an ambassador for the Turf Moor college, tried to take his own life by swallowing 50 pills in a London park in 2001.

He said: 'It took me about two months just to start writing about that - I didn't want to go there. I had never gone there, not even in therapy. It was something I'd completely ignored and shut off.

'Knowing that I was going to have to write about it and go to the site where I attempted to kill myself, I was really scared because I didn't know what emotions it would bring up or where it would take me mentally.

'But, having got through it, it was awesome coming out the other side. The fact it has encouraged and inspired other people to confront what they're going through has been utterly fantastic.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...erthought.html

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FA In New Race Row Over All-White Commission

The Football Association has been accused of ignoring diversity with an all-white, all-male committee to improve England's team.

When he was director-general Greg Dyke described the BBC as "hideously white". Now in charge of another oft-troubled national institution, the Football Association, he finds that memorable phrase levelled at him.

A week that began with the relief of England qualifying for the World Cup has ended with the FA embroiled once more in issues of race.

First Roy Hodgson was forced to apologise for his use of the word monkey in a half-time joke.

Now Heather Rabbatts, the only woman on the FA board, and one of the most respected and consistent equality campaigners in public life, has criticised Dyke for failing to appoint any non-white figures to a commission examining the future of the England team.

"The FA should be leading by example not reinforcing entrenched attitudes."

This is cutting criticism from a highly credible voice on the most sensitive issue facing the game. Rabbatts is not shooting from the hip. She has gone public only after her advice was ignored by Dyke.

She is well-connected and experienced in football, having served as a director of Millwall, and was a pivotal figure in the removal of John Terry from the England captaincy after he was charged with racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.

She is also chair of the FA's inclusivity committee, and helped draw up new guidelines on tackling racism.

Crucially, she is acutely aware of the views of an increasingly dissatisfied group of current and former black players who feel the game does too little to address racism, and offers insufficient opportunities in coaching and administration.

They are a group whose views are seldom aired publicly - Jason Roberts and Stan Collymore are exceptions - but are no less real for being unspoken.

This is the river of discontent into which Hodgson's ill-chosen gag dropped like a lead weight last week, no matter that many were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

But the genuine discontent among black and ethnic minority players cannot be dismissed as a sense of humour failure.

All of which poses a huge challenge for Dyke. His commission was an attempt to tackle an on-field issue of major concern to fans: how to increase the number of English players competing at the highest level.

Instead it has become a symbol of why, despite years of campaigning against racism, a significant minority still feel they are excluded from the heart of the game.

Hideous indeed.

http://news.sky.com/story/1156775/fa...ite-commission