- Arsenal Women posted a photo of their 2023-24 squad on X on Friday
- Fans took issue with it and the post has been viewed more than 2 million times
- Listen to the latest episode of the Mail Sport podcast’It’s all Nicking Off!‘
A race row has erupted over Arsenal’s women’s squad picture for the 2023-24 season, with many fans angry that there are no black players.
In a post shared by Arsenal on Friday – which has now been viewed more than two million times – 27 players and manager Jonas Eidevall can be seen being photographed ahead of the Women’s Super League season, which began on October 1.
Last year the BBC estimated that the proportion of black, Asian and minority ethnic players in the Women’s Super League is between 10-15 per cent, falling sharply from around 33 per cent in the men’s Premier League.
Unimpressed Arsenal fans took to X – formerly Twitter – to criticize the lack of diversity and black players in their latest squad.
One user wrote: “No professional team, men’s or women’s, should be able to field an all-white team in 2023.”
Arsenal Women’s 2023-24 squad picture has gone viral after being posted on Friday
Arsenal fans at X were quick to condemn them for not having a black player in the squad
Your browser does not support iframes.
Another wrote: ‘Nice pic and this one but god it’s so disturbing that one of the biggest clubs in the world doesn’t have a single player in the squad.’
A third said: ‘You mean to tell me Arsenal stakeholders and management see this and think it’s okay? Head coaches think this is okay? PLAYERS look at each other think is this ok? ALL WHITE?? Please @ArsenalWFC @Arsenal must have an urgent meeting and change.’
A fourth wrote: ‘We don’t have a single black player. This is scary.’
Other critical fans labeled the lack of black players as “shocking” and something that needs to be addressed going forward.
Mail Sport has approached Arsenal for comment.
The issue of diversity in the women’s game became even more important last year when discussing the Lionesses team that won Euro 2022.
There were only three players of mixed heritage included for the Lioness.
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright called it a ‘systemic problem’ while former England international Eniola Aluko said at the time that changes needed to be made to recruitment to tackle the lack of diversity.
Users on X were not entirely impressed with the lack of black players on the team
Last summer, former England international Eni Aluko called for changes to recruitment in the women’s game to tackle the lack of diversity
“It’s about making sure we’re expanding the pool of players for Sarina Wiegman (Lioness manager) to pick from and the academies to pick from,” Aluko told ITV.
“The talent is there. The FA should sit down and see if they can build centers in certain areas.
“Just change our practices a little bit. With the professionalism of the game, it probably turns people off a bit.’
The Football Association has fast-tracked its ‘Discover My Talent’ program aimed at improving access to football, which the governing body hopes will improve diversity.
(tagsTranslate) daily mail(s) sport(s) football(s) Women