Only two of the 22 players featured were of ethnic minorities
The Football Association (FA) has apologised after several players in the Women’s Super League expressed their anger at the lack of diversity in a video to promote International Women’s Day.
Only two of the 22 players featuring in the video – Chelsea’s Sam Kerr and Charlton Athletic’s Elisha Sulola – were from ethnic minortities.
Across the day, the FA published a series of International Women’s Day content, including graphics featuring former England and current Brighton and Hove Albion manager Hope Powell, and former Arsenal and England star Alex Scott.
In the video, which lasted seven minutes and 58 seconds, both Kerr and Sulola spoke for fewer than 10 seconds, leaving the black and ethnic minority players “furious” about the lack of diversity and the message it could send across to their viewers.
Thank you to all those who have broken the bias and those who continue to do so. #BreakTheBias 🙅♀️ #IWD2022 pic.twitter.com/DQVW7Jipq9
— Barclays FA Women’s Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) March 8, 2022
As reported by The Telegraph, the FA have since issued an apology for the lack of representation in a message to all WSL players.
It said: “We created a video on International Women’s Day to showcase and celebrate some of the women that represent our leagues and competitions, however we realise that it did not accurately reflect the diversity of our modern game and it did not represent the inclusive nature of our online content.
“On this occasion, we asked clubs for content and worked with what was received, however we apologise that the video did not highlight and celebrate the many success stories of people from diverse backgrounds who play, coach and represent the women’s game.
“Attracting women and girls from historically underrepresented ethnic communities to play and participate in football is a core part of our work at The FA and we will continue to strive to do everything we can to promote this important area of our game. We will ensure that all future pieces of content highlight greater diversity.”
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