The founder of the ‘Kick It Out’ and anti-racism campaigner, Lord Herman Ouseley, has dies following a short illness.
Anti-racism activist, Lord Ouseley, who founded the campaign - then renamed it ‘Let's Kick Racism Out of Football’ - in 1993, and who also chaired the charity for 25 years, passed away following a short illness, the anti-discrimination charity said. The Guyana-born sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher until his retirement in 2019, and also served as the chief executive for the Race Equality Commission.
Sitting in the House of Lords as a crossbencher, from 2001 until his retirement in 2019, he was also included in the 2003 list of ‘100 Great Black Britons’. A statement from Kick It Out said: “Lord Ouseley was a titan in tackling discrimination in football over the 25 years he was chair of Kick It Out, having founded ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’ in 1993.
“He was also a fearless advocate for underrepresented and disadvantaged communities and will be sorely missed. Lord Ouseley’s vision to set up Kick It Out was the first true structural change in football to take on a problem that had blighted the game for decades.
“Fans and participants are now more aware of discrimination and how to challenge it, which is a legacy of the tenacity and vigour he showed in ensuring football continued to change. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude and vow to continue that legacy for the benefit of future generations.
“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.” The Premier League said: "The Premier League is extremely saddened to hear the news of Lord Herman Ouseley’s death.
In his 25 years as Chair of Kick it Out, Lord Ouseley inspired change and played an instrumental role in tackling discrimination in football and championing equality. Our thoughts are with his family and friends." He was executive chair at the Campaign for Racial Equality in 1993 when he helped to create Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football, football's first anti-racism charity, which then became known as Kick It Out.
During that time, he worked tirelessly to build relationships with football bodies and with clubs to tackle racism and helped to develop anti-discrimination matchday campaign as well as the reporting of racism at matches. He was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1997 New Year Honours for his "services to community relations and local government" and was made a life peer as Baron Ouseley, of Peckham Rye in the London Borough of Southwark in 2001.
He had 13 honorary degrees, from the Universities of Edinburgh, Sheffield Hallam, Bradford, Leicester, Leeds Met, Warwick, Oxford Brookes, Greenwich, London South Bank, London Metropolitan, North East London, Staffordshire and Brighton. Lord Ouseley was made a Knight Bachelor in 1997 for services to community relations and local government and made a life peer in 2001, sitting in the House of Lords as a crossbencher until his retirement in 2019.
He was 79.