Manchester City star
Raheem Sterling has urged English football to use the global anti-racism
protests to initiate debates and find solutions regarding the lack of black
representation in top leadership positions in the sport.
Calling for racial
justice, thousands of protesters have rallied across the UK, joining a wave of
demonstrations sparked by the death of African American George Floyd at the
hands of US police last month.
England forward Sterling,
who has previously been prominent in calling out racism in both the domestic
and international game, is the latest sports star to lend his support to the
protests.
“The protest is a great
starting point, to make your voice be heard. But just protesting alone is not
going to make a change in this country,” Sterling said Monday in a BBC TV
interview.
“It’s how we move on from
here. It’s about highlighting things, the society that needs changing, and then
acting upon it. We’ve done a lot of talking, and it’s time now to act.”
“This is a time to speak
on these subjects, speak on injustice, especially in my field,” he added.
Sterling pointed a finger
at the long-running disparity between the number of high-profile Black, Asian
and minority ethnic players and the dearth of those who go on to hold
significant managerial, coaching or administrative jobs.
“There’s something like
500 players in the Premier League and a third of them are black and we have no
representation of us in the hierarchy, no representation of us in the coaching
staffs. There’s not a lot of faces that we can relate to and have conversations
with,” he said.
“With these protests that
are going on it’s all well and good just talking, but it’s time that we need to
have conversations, to be able to spark debates.
“But at same time, it’s
coming together and finding a solution to be able to spark change because we
can talk as much as we want about changing and putting people, black people, in
these positions that I do feel they should be in.”
‘Give equal chances’
Sterling contrasted the
managerial paths of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, who have landed top roles
at Rangers and Chelsea, to equally experienced black players who have been
compelled to start much lower down the ladder.
“The coaching staff that
you see around football clubs: there’s Steven Gerrard, your Frank Lampards,
your Sol Campbells and your Ashley Coles. All had great careers, all played for
England,” said Sterling.
“At the same time, they’ve
all respectfully done their coaching badges to coach at the highest level and
the two that haven’t been given the right opportunities are the two black
former players.
“The change is being able
to speak to people in Parliament, people at the hierarchy at my football club,
football clubs across the country, people at the national team of England, to
implement change and give equal chances to not just black coaches but also
different ethnicities.
“I feel like that’s what’s
lacking here, it’s not just taking the knee, it is about giving people the
chance they deserve.”