On July 21, according to UK media The Guardian, British organization BAMREF is working to give a voice to Black, Asian and female referees. They are urging the Football Association to have more diverse groups refereeing football matches, thereby increasing the diversity of match officials.
Last season in the Premier League, Sam Allison became the first black referee in the Premier League in 15 years when he officiated the Sheffield United v Luton match in December.
BAMREF founder Joel Mannix said: “Everything we do is to make the profession attractive to people, if refereeing is a middle-class profession and you only allow men to be on the pitch, we will never attract people from outside that group.”
This year’s BAMREF refereeing conference will feature speeches and workshops from all-female referee panels, with a focus on how to increase the number of women from different backgrounds involved in refereeing. BAMREF statistics show that there are only 243 referees from Black, Asian or female backgrounds among the almost 37,000 referees in the UK.
“We want to empower female referees, they know they will all face barriers but we can help them overcome them. I believe it will be a very enriching experience for everyone who participates.”
“If you look at the diversity in the England men’s team at the Euros, there should be a lot more Black and Asian representation in the Premier League than there is now.”
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