Rio Ferdinand calls for 'culture shift from the top down' to improve diversity at top level in football

Rio Ferdinand believes there has to be a “culture shift from the top down” to address issues around diversity and representation in football.

A report earlier this year by the Black Footballers’ Partnership revealed that 4.4% of management-related positions in the top four divisions in English football were held by Black employees.

Ferdinand says the diversity and representation seen on the pitch is not “reflected in the boardrooms or the positions of power”.

Speaking on a roundtable discussion about representation in sport called "A Seat At The Table", which will be shown on TNT Sports 1 and discovery+ at 8pm UK time on October 19 as part of Black History Month, Ferdinand said: “I think grassroots up, the pyramid of the game, you see the diversity on the pitch is there for everybody to see.

"It's not there in the boardrooms or the positions where people can make decisions or as part of the workforce of the pitch.

“There needs to be an intention, but that has to be a culture change, a culture shift from the top down.

“I worked for one of the best managers ever [Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United], one of the best leaders. He created a culture and everybody followed him.

“He was a leader in the area that he commanded. That culture was driven by him, but the best people for the job were employed and given jobs and opportunities, and that staff from the top order football clubs in our game.

“Because if those people that are running the clubs - the major shareholders, the big decision-makers - don't have that culture shift in their minds, this conversation will be here in 10 years again.”

Ferdinand also believes the Black people who do get into positions of power face “external pressure that other people are not afforded”.

“You have to accept it because it's the world we live in right now. But you shouldn't have to," he said.

“I don't think there are any Black people out there that want to get a job because they are Black. You don't want to be in that room, because ethically it’s wrong, but also as an individual, you'll be sitting there going, ‘This is not where I’m meant to be. I'm not here because I'm good enough’.

“And then you end up not doing the best job because you question every single decision and move that you make. People of colour want to get through the door to contribute.”

Earlier this year, Premier League club Brentford were awarded the preliminary level of the Premier League Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard (PLEDIS).

The award recognises Brentford’s work in the areas of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

The club’s board includes Preeti Shetty and Deji Davies – the first South Asian female and only Black British male, respectively, serving on the board of a Premier League club, according to Brentford – while Black administrator Lorna Falconer is the head of football operations and former Black professional footballer Justin Cochrane is head of coaching.

“I think it's really important to actually amplify clubs like Brentford because they're a success story for a lot of things,” said former England international Eni Aluko.

“The way they run the club, the recruitment on the playing side. But at the board level, it's very diverse and I know them really well. Whether it's Deji Davis, who comes from a finance background and is half-Nigerian, Nity Raj, who is an Asian man who is the head of legal. And I've met the owner, Matthew Benham, who is a very progressive man.

“So it's very intentional about who is making the decisions at the top of Brentford, that then reflects what they're doing in the community. And I just think if we have a club like Brentford as an example, that is proof that it works.

“There is a business case, I suppose, for diversity at the top level because it's not just about the visual.

“These have to be excellent people in what they do and they are, but it's the route to that point that I think we're talking about, how do we get excellent people from diverse backgrounds at the top level of sport?

“But you have to be intentional about it, like Brentford have been.”

Reflecting on the process that saw her appointed as sporting director at National Women's Soccer League club Angel City, Aluko said: “I got the job because I had an amazing presentation and I'm qualified to do the job right now.

“I insisted and said, ‘I don't just want to be an employee. I want equity. I want to be on the board because I'm building this club and I want to be part of your decision-making. I don't replace anyone.’

“They created that for me to be in those conversations at decision-making level. Now, had I replaced somebody, you're creating a situation where there's already friction because people are going, ‘Well, why is she replacing her?’

“So what I'm saying is it has to be reflective, which is why I had the opportunity to say, ‘well, if [you're] in LA, you have to have a diverse board because you are reflecting of the fans’. And they got it. If you want to diversify football boards quickly, we should not expect to be replacing people.

“Add seats to the table when those seats come to the table.

“So let's say, for example, we say to Chelsea, you really need to diversify your board, right? Because it's not reflective. They say, ‘okay, we agree. Ugo [Monye, who was also on the roundtable discussion], Eni, come on our board’.

“It's then up to us when we get on that board to then influence the rest of the table. But I think it's unrealistic to then think we're going to replace decision-makers who have invested their money in clubs.

“And if we do that, that causes more problems than I think we probably want. What we want is a seat at the table or we create our own tables, which is a whole different conversation.”

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