The first index to track race representation in British sport has resulted in 43% of national governing bodies receiving the lowest three grades available. A trio of England’s biggest sports governors – the Football Association, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Rugby Football Union – didn’t even attend.
The first Race Representation Index, commissioned by the Advisory Board on Sports Monitoring through the charity Sporting Equals, was motivated by the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd. It aimed to provide a basis for racial diversity across the sector to track progress year-on-year and was originally submitted to 52 national governing bodies on a voluntary basis. Two, the FA and the RFU, declined to participate.
The final report released on Monday also notes that the ECB, along with the British Basketball Federation, British Swimming and Volleyball England, has not even acknowledged receipt of the RRI paperwork. The response period was extended from mid-December to January 6th.
The ECB’s position is particularly noteworthy given its November commitment to “a far-reaching action plan to combat racism and promote inclusion and diversity at all levels of the game” amid the fallout from racism allegations at Yorkshire CCC. It is understood that his non-participation in the RRI was unintentional and that he will be contacting Sporting Equals regarding future collaboration.
The governing bodies that participated in the RRI saw results achieved based on hiring practices at the board, senior management, senior coaching, and at the game or athlete level before a final grade was produced. A similar approach is already being used to track equality issues in college and professional sports in the United States.
Ten out of 35 national governing bodies received an A, B or C grade, with 15 in the D, E or F grade. Incomplete responses were received from British Rowing, England Golf, Badminton England and British Cycling. The three bodies that received an A overall grade were England Handball, England Basketball and GB Taekwondo. British Canoeing and Snowsport England received an F.
Ama Agbeze, who led England’s netball team to gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, sits on the Sports Monitoring Advisory Board. She said: “While there are achievements that should be recognized and commended for best practice, overall there is a long way to go for the sport before true racial equality is felt and achieved.”
The RFU did not respond to a request for comment from the Guardian. A spokesman for the FA said: “The FA supports the aims of the Race Representation Index and believes transparency is key to achieving positive change. We have published race and gender data for our general workforce, leadership team and national coaching population each year since 2018, with goals and progress outlined in our One Game for All equality, diversity and inclusion plan.
“We also launched the Football Leadership Diversity Code in 2020, which measures recruitment across the FA, other football players including the Premier League and EFL and club signatories. This aims to focus on what we are currently seeing on the pitch reflected off the pitch, with an initial focus on gender and ethnic diversity, and the progress reported annually. Since we are already creating clarity and transparency about our work in this area, we have decided not to take part in this survey as well.”
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Professor Kevin Hylton, a special adviser to the project, said: “The Sport Monitoring Advisory Board and Sporting Equals believe that while the UK sport sector has set the baseline, there is still a lot of work to be done before we can tangibly feel and see more actively anti-racist and inclusive sector.
“Through the work of the Race Representation Index, the follow-up of this journey will be visible to all, in addition to enabling the broad sharing of best practices to enable the development of an integrative approach to sport and physical activity.”
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