Honest question: I’m a longtime premier league fan from the US. In my over 10 years of watching English football, I’ve never seen a person of color as the center referee in a premier league match. Does anyone know why this is? A significant percentage (majority) of premier league players are not white, and given research around subconscious bias, you have to imagine the league and refereeing body would have an interest in having their game officials be representative of the players they officiate? With the quality of officiating being in the news so much recently, increasing diversity in the ranks of game officials could be one idea. I imagine it’s just a big old boys club though…
The obvious difference is that all PL referees seem to be British whereas the players are from all over the world. Many from Africa.
Unless people of colour are actually disadvantaged in becoming PL referees why would anyone care anyway? I fail to see why more diversity alone would increase the standard of refereeing. Refereeing is a tough job. You dont become a PL referee overnight. If you dont go in there with the relevant experience you’d be eaten alive.
Just to be clear I’m far from biased against non-whites achieving any position in soccer or elsewhere. Tbh I dont give a shit what colour anyone is. But I fail to see how with all things being equal some fake enforced diversity drive would increase the quality of refereeing.
Jarred Gillet is Australian.