When the English Premier League resumes Wednesday, not only will the stadiums be empty, but soccer stars' names won’t appear on the back of their jerseys. Instead, all players’ shirts will say “Black Lives Matter.”
“Fundamentally, we still have issues that exist in our game that we've never eradicated and we need to make a priority,” said Troy Townsend, head of development at Kick it Out, English soccer’s equality and inclusion organization. He is also the father of Andros Townsend, the Crystal Palace and England player who’s played almost 300 professional games.
“Football needs to reflect and look at how it encourages more fans from different backgrounds and different ethnicities to be able to feel they can go to a stadium,” he added. Nuno Espirito Santo, of Wolverhampton Wanderers, is the only top Black coach in the Premier League at present. The top coaches of the other 19 teams are white. Affirmative action could be required to tackle the lack of representation, Cleland suggested.
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