Heather Rabbatts hits out at FA over lack of diversity on its commission

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/19/heather-rabbatts-fa-diversity-commission

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The FA director Heather Rabbatts has written a stinging letter to her fellow board members to warn that the governing body has been left "exposed at a vital moment" by the lack of diversity on its commission into the future of English football.

Rabbatts, the only woman on the FA board and its only director from an ethnic minority background, said she had taken the bold step because the opportunity to tackle the dearth of homegrown players had been "singularly damaged" by the FA's handling of the issue. She said she had been forced to speak out on the issue because she felt her personal integrity was being compromised by her silence. "The FA should be leading by example not reinforcing entrenched attitudes," she said.

In the letter, seen by the Guardian, Rabbatts describes her intense frustration at listening to the "so-called commissioners air their often ill-informed views" since the eight members of the panel so far announced were unveiled last week by the FA chairman Greg Dyke. "As you all know from my comments at the board this week, I believe that the lack of proper consultation on the makeup of the commission, the fact that no approval was sought from the board, releasing the names of the 'chosen' individuals at Leaders in Football, the composition of the commission itself and the lack of diversity, have all meant that the opportunity to lead an informed debate on the future of English players has been singularly damaged," said Rabbatts, a former chief executive of Lambeth council and chairwoman of Millwall FC.

"I make the comments about diversity not because they are additional to this matter but because they lie at its heart," added Rabbatts. The makeup of the commission, set up to urgently examine the lack of opportunity for homegrown talent, has been widely criticised since it was unveiled by Dyke last week at the Leaders in Football conference.

Rabbatts, a former BBC governor and Channel 4 executive, is believed to have been particularly exercised about Dyke's failure to discuss the composition of the commission with the board before it was announced. "As a mixed-race woman, an FA director required to bring an additional, independent view to the role and as someone who cares passionately about the future credibility of the FA on race, I have tried to emphasise in private the importance of this moment," she said in her letter. "The refusal to understand this, the lack of proper decision-making and accountability, and the disappointing composition of the commission means that public silence is no longer an option."

She accused her fellow directors of letting down the black and ethnic minority community in football and said the FA's stance was ironic in a week that Andros Townsend's emergence on the international scene had helped the England team qualify for the World Cup. "Indeed, while England's victories on Friday and Tuesday are due to many factors no one would argue that a young black player made a huge difference and a young man whose father has played a significant role in fighting racism in football," she wrote.

"It is therefore particularly ironic that a commission to look at the national team has been formed with absolutely no representation from the black and ethnic minority communities, many of whom play such an important role at every level of our game.

"As the commission looks to address all of the complexities of its brief, it will crucially have to come to a view on nationality, race and identity. To have announced a list without anyone who can speak from experience and in an informed manner on those three areas has exposed the FA at a vital moment."

Rabbatts, who agreed to chair an inclusion committee formed by the FA as part of the fallout from the on-field racist incidents that convulsed the game for almost 18 months, said she had only gone public with her concerns as a last resort. "I have tried every means at my disposal to stress the importance of diversity for the effective work of the Commission and to express my concerns in private. And during the storm over the manager I have totally supported the FA's position and Roy himself and knowing Roy as I do, I have huge respect for him and have no doubt he feels deep regret over the incident," she said of the row over Hodgson's half-time team talk that has overshadowed England's qualification for Brazil. "However, on the issue of the commission, I have come to the conclusion that the FA's current position is not sustainable and my own personal integrity and values are being compromised."

The eight names announced so far for the commission include former England right-back Danny Mills, Dyke and the FA vice-chairman Roger Burden, the former England manager Glenn Hoddle, the League Managers Association chairman, Howard Wilkinson, the new Professional Footballers' Association chairman, Ritchie Humphreys, the Football League chairman, Greg Clarke, and the Crewe Alexandra director of football, Dario Gradi.

Rabbatts, appointed in December 2011 as one of two independent directors supposed to improve the FA's corporate governance, said she was committed to continuing her work on inclusion issues within the FA but threw down the gauntlet to Dyke and the rest of the board to respond to her concerns.

"I do this with some sadness but I feel I have been left with no choice and have accepted the responsibility to make my views known. It will be for others to judge the merits of my concerns and the way that the FA should now proceed in relation to the Commission," she said.

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