LONDON: Football Association chairman Greg Clarke has stood down with immediate effect in the wake of a series of racist remarks when referring to black players made to UK parliamentarians.
The comments came as he was talking about the racist abuse of players by trolls on social media to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee via video link.
“We can confirm that Greg Clarke has stepped down from the role as FA chairman,” said an FA statement.
The FA further stated: “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.
“We would also like to reaffirm that as an organisation, we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to promote diversity, address inequality, and tackle all forms of discrimination in the game.”
BBC reported that Clarke prompted further criticism when referring to gay players making a “life choice” and a coach telling him young female players did not like having the ball hit hard at them.
He also said there were “a lot more South Asians than there are Afro-Caribbeans” in the FA’s IT department because “they have different career interests”.
During the parliamentary hearing, Clarke apologised after being prompted to say sorry by MP Kevin Brennan.
A statement from anti-racism charity Show Racism the Red Card said Clarke’s comments “only serve to demonstrate the power of language and the damage of stereotyping groups of people”.
Speaking before the resignation was announced, Sanjay Bhandari, executive chair at Kick It Out, told BBC Clarke’s comments to the DCMS were outdated.
“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 have been spouted at club academy level,” he said.
“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.”
Following his resignation, Clarke said: “My unacceptable words in front of Parliament were a disservice to our game and to those who watch, play, referee and administer it. This has crystallised my resolve to move on.
“I am deeply saddened that I have offended those diverse communities in football that I and others worked so hard to include.
“As a person who loves football and has given decades of service to our game, it is right that I put the interests of football first,” added Clarke in the statement confirming his departure.
“2020 has been a challenging year and I have been actively considering standing down for some time to make way for a new chair now our CEO transition is complete and excellent executive leadership under Mark Bullingham is established.”
