FA to launch crackdown to eradicate the sickening abuse of England stars – as governing body aims to boost diversity of coaching staff
- Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham were the most targeted players at Euro 2024
- The FA is committed to proactively tackling the issue of abuse of England stars
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The Football Association is launching a crackdown on the worrying trend of English players being targeted with discriminatory abuse, Mail Sport can reveal.
The governing body is about to unveil their new equality, diversity and inclusivity strategy for the next four years – and it can be revealed that one of their key objectives is to eradicate the sickening abuse suffered by English footballers in recent years .
The FA will also announce their intention to:
- ensuring that 25 percent of England’s men’s coaching staff are from a black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic background (BAME). For England’s women’s coaching staff, this figure is 50 percent
- women make up half of their total workforce, with 20 percent being of BAME origin
- make reporting of diversity figures in professional football mandatory
- to grow a more diverse pool of referees
- to increase the number of players and coaches from underrepresented groups
A UEFA report reveals that Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka were the two most seriously abused players at Euro 2024
The FA has set out its ambition to increase the representation of BAME coaches in men’s teams
English footballers have suffered nasty comments in recent years – a development that the FA wants to proactively address.
A human rights report by UEFA following Euro 2024 revealed that Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham were the two most seriously abused players at the tournament.
Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were all targets of online racist abuse after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.
The FA’s pledge to overcome the prevailing problem is set out in a new document, seen by Mail Sport, from the governing body aimed at implementing meaningful change.
In the report, the FA says they have calculated a 47 percent increase in racist abuse at all levels and a 44 percent increase in cases of sexism and misogyny.
Elsewhere in the document, the FA set out their ambition to increase the representation of BAME coaches across the entire England men’s team to 25 percent. According to the report, this figure currently stands at 19 percent.
The commitment comes at a time when it is yet to be concluded whether new England head coach Thomas Tuchel will have an ethnically diverse coach in his backroom team.
Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, along with Saka, were targets of online racist abuse after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy
It has yet to be concluded whether new England head coach Thomas Tuchel will have an ethnically diverse coach in his backroom team.
Ashley Cole was part of Lee Carsley’s staff during his interim spell as England boss
Chris Powell, Paul Nevin and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink all worked with the senior England team during Gareth Southgate’s eight-year reign, while Ashley Cole and Joleon Lescott assisted Lee Carsley in the recent interim period.
Other highlights of the dossier include a clear commitment to promoting the Rainbow Laces campaign, designed to ensure that members of the LBGTQ+ community are welcome in English football.
The FA has set a target for 14 percent of all their employees to be LGBTQ+ by 2028.