Sports News

Several Great Britain and Northern Ireland stars have confirmed their participation at the Müller British Athletics Championships which will take place on Friday 4th and Saturday 5th September.

Among those athletes who have committed to the Championships to date are eight finalists from the 2019 World Athletics Championships and six reigning British outdoor champions.

European indoor silver medallist and seven-time British outdoor champion Holly Bradshaw will make a return to action in the women’s pole vault. World finalist and reigning British champion Abigail Irozuru will take on 2016 European silver medallist Jazmin Sawyers in the women’s long jump.

Jodie Williams claimed the 200m title in 2019 and is among the entries for the Championships, while Laviai Nielsen claimed her first British title over 400m last August and will be seeking a defence of her title in September. In the endurance events, after a seventh-place finish in the 20km race walk at the world championship last year, Tom Bosworth will take on the 5000m race walk.

World 5000m finalists Eilish McColgan and Laura Weightman will also be in action. The Scottish athlete is a three-time British gold medallist outdoors, while the Morpeth athlete is a four-time national champion over 1500m, and she also sealed bronze over the 5000m distance last year.

Jake Wightman - fifth in the men’s 1500m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships - is ready for a tilt at his first outdoor British title following two silvers and a bronze medal since 2016. Other athletes confirmed are Trafford’s Naomi Ogbeta who will make the short journey to the Manchester Regional Arena for the women’s triple jump, while European indoor pentathlon silver medallist Niamh Emerson and last year’s 400m hurdles bronze medallist Chris McAlister also join the entry list.

Cherry Alexander, Major Events Director at British Athletics, added: “At last, I am delighted to commence the announcements of athletes who will be competing at the Müller British Athletics Championships in September at the Manchester Regional Arena. There has been a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes to make the organisation and delivery of this event possible. We are delighted to be welcoming our world class athletes back to competition in Manchester.

“These are unprecedented times so the Championships will have a different feel to them this year, but we will do everything possible to make this a special event for the athletes and coaches, and the fans watching on the BBC.”

With the championships being broadcast live on Friday night on BBC2, and Saturday, afternoon on BBC1, Britain’s best athletes will be lining up to provide athletics fans with their fix of the country’s favourite Olympic and Paralympic sport.

The format and shape of the competition and guidelines that will be adhered to for competitors and those helping to stage the championship will be subject to the government guidelines in place and will be communicated in due course.

England World Cup winner and ex-Republic of Ireland boss Jack Charlton dies

Jack Charlton, a World Cup winner with England and former Republic of Ireland boss, has died.

The former Leeds defender had been diagnosed with lymphoma in the last year and also had dementia.

One of English football's most popular characters, he was in the team that won the World Cup at Wembley in 1966, alongside his brother Bobby.

He made a record number of appearances for Leeds and achieved unprecedented success with the Republic of Ireland.

A family statement read: "Jack died peacefully on Friday, July 10 at the age of 85. He was at home in Northumberland, with his family by his side.

"As well as a friend to many, he was a much-adored husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

"We cannot express how proud we are of the extraordinary life he led and the pleasure he brought to so many people in different countries and from all walks of life.

"He was a thoroughly honest, kind, funny and genuine man who always had time for people.

"His loss will leave a huge hole in all our lives but we are thankful for a lifetime of happy memories."

Charlton had spells in charge of Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough and Newcastle.

He led the Republic of Ireland to their first major finals at Euro 88 and the World Cup quarter-finals at Italia 90.

Leeds United, where he spent his entire 21-year playing career and made a joint club record 773 appearances before retiring as a player in 1973, said the club was "deeply saddened".

Charlton, part of the Leeds side that won the 1969 League title and the 1972 FA Cup, is the third club legend and former England international to die this year after Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry.

He was 85.

After three successful seasons, Leicester Riders have confirmed this morning that they will be without the services of Rema Lascelles next season as he ends his professional basketball career to take up a new challenge.

“I’d like to thank both Rob and Russell for giving me an opportunity to play the game I love at the highest level this country has to offer,” said Rema.

“I loved my time at the Riders. From competing with some amazingly talented players day in day out to travelling the country and Europe showcasing our own skills, including playing in front of 15k people at the O2. I have made some lifelong memories and friends.

“I felt like it was the right time to end my pro career and to take steps into the next chapter in my life. My girlfriend and I are starting a family together and I am embarking on a career which I am hopeful can provide the same amount of enjoyment and fulfilment from that I got from basketball.”

Rema clocked up 87 appearances for the Riders including two treble winning seasons and the FIBA Europe adventure.

“We are all happy for Rema and wish him well for the future,” reflected Head Coach Rob Paternostro. “He was a winning player with the club and was an important part of some very good teams.

“He was a very unique player, he had great size at the point guard position and did a great job passing the ball and running the offence and was always a guy that teammates enjoyed playing with.”

Managing Director Russell Levenston added, “We wish Rema all the best with his career. He has been a tremendous asset for our club over the past three seasons and really contributed to the success of our team.

“We are really proud of him, and although we’ll miss him at the Arena, he goes with our blessing and good wishes.”

Following a period of closure due to the lockdown, TeamSport Indoor Karting, Birmingham premier go-karting track, has reopened its doors, with thorough COVID-19 precautionary measures in place to continue to keep customers safe whilst they’re having fun.
 
Thanks to new state-of-the-art, Ozone sanitisation equipment, installed at every TeamSport track, all items of clothing that racers are required to wear, including helmets, race suits and gloves, will be sanitised before being issued to each customer. This in conjunction with increased additional race wear having been purchased means that customers will now have freshly sanitised kit for their exclusive use for the duration of their visit.  Customers are also welcome to bring their own racewear and helmet as long as it complies to the required safety standard.
 
Once out on track, racers will continue to be able to enjoy the thrill of karting just as they would have before.  Popular ‘Ultimate Race Experience’ sessions are a great opportunity to improve your driving skills and lower your lap time and for those who love an offer,  ‘3-4-2’ sessions provide great value for those looking to get even more time on track.  Some race events however, such as kids birthday party packages, will be unavailable initially, due to the current social distancing guidelines. 
 
To keep racers refuelled drinks and snacks (excluding hot food) will be readily available and customers will be required to pay for items with a card as a cashless payment policy is now in place throughout TeamSport venues. 
 
Dominic Gaynor, CEO of TeamSport Indoor Karting, said: “The whole TeamSport team are delighted to reopen and be able to share the joy of go-karting again.”
 
“We understand that in the current climate people will be concerned about COVID-19, in regards to both their personal wellbeing and that of their family and friends, and would like to reassure customers that we have put in place a set of thorough precautionary measures to keep our customers and crew safe. 

“Our karting experience out on track remains the same exciting experience; being in a kart, racing round corners and having a great time is what karting is all about, and we hope people will come with family and friends to experience the fun.”
 
All bookings made online at www.team-sport.co.uk will receive an ‘online exclusive’ 10% discount.
 

Local key worker heroes honoured by England stars ahead of first #raisethebat Test

Ahead of the start of the first #raisethebat Test against the West Indies two members of the Warwickshire County Cricket Club and Edgbaston family were among those recognised for their response to the COVID-19 outbreak by the England Men’s Test team.

Mohammed Banaris, who works on-site at Edgbaston as Operations Manager for Club partners G4S and has led the COVID-19 testing centre on the stadium car park, and Dr Nasir Ali, Event Doctor at Edgbaston and Emergency Medicine Consultant at QE Hospital, are two of 25 key worker heroes who had their names displayed on the training shirts of the England Men’s Test team.

The England Men’s players and coaches took to the pitch at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton, with Warwickshire and England opening batsman Dom Sibley wearing Mohammed’s name and Sussex fast bowler Olly Robinson wearing Nasir’s name on their training shirts before the start of the match. All people named on the shirts were nominated by their respective county or international cricket venue or local cricket clubs and include teachers, doctors, nurses, carers and other vital professions.

Each key worker will now receive the shirt bearing their name, signed by the player who wore it, to thank them for the work they’ve been doing. Their names and photos will also be highlighted in broadcast partners’ Sky and BBC’s coverage and displayed across the ground on the big screens and LED banners.  

“Both Mohammed and Nasir have played an instrumental role in the national response to the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Warwickshire CCC’s Safety Officer David Clarke, who nominated both through the ECB #raisethebat initiative.

“Mohammed and his team have been on the front line throughout this period and leading operations at the COVID-19 testing centre within the Edgbaston car park. This was initially planned for use by NHS staff but soon expanded to incorporate wider key workers and referrals through the NHS 111 service thanks to the great work from the team.

“Dr Ali contracted the virus early on in the period of lockdown but made a full recovery and returned to work as soon as it was safe to do so to support the Accident & Emergency ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. We’re very grateful for the work that he and his amazing colleagues at the NHS have delivered throughout this period.”

Ben Stokes, who is captaining England in the opening #raisethebat Test match said: “We’re only able to play this Test match because of the amazing job that key workers up and down the country have done to help us through this pandemic.

“Wearing their names is a real honour for us and is a small sign of our appreciation for the incredible work they have done. They have truly gone into bat for us all, and it makes me proud of how the whole cricket family has responded to help us get through these unprecedented times.”

Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams has received an apology from the Met Police after she and her partner were pulled over in their car in a stop-and-search. Ms Williams's three-month-old son was also in the car when it was stopped in Maida Vale.

Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick told a committee of MPs officers had visited Ms Williams to apologise for "distress" caused by the stop. The force has also launched a review of its handcuffing practices, she added.

Footage of the stop-and-search has been shared widely on social media.

Ms Williams believes officers racially profiled her and her partner Ricardo dos Santos, a Portuguese international 400m runner, because they are Black and were driving a Mercedes. They say police handcuffed them while their son was in the car.

Despite two reviews by the force's directorate of professional standards, Dame Cressida said the force had found no misconduct by its officers. However, because of the public interest in the case, the Met has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Earlier, Dame Cressida told the Home Affairs Select Committee: "We apologised yesterday to Ms Williams and I apologise again for the distress this stop clearly caused her.

"I think all of us watching could empathise with somebody who is stopped in a vehicle, who has a young child in the back, who does not probably know what exactly is going on, and is subsequently found, together with her partner, not to be carrying anything illicit."

Dame Cressida said she has asked a senior officer to review the Met's handcuffing practices to make sure it hasn't become a "default", and has set up an "oversight group" looking at the use of force.

"Every time we see a video that is of concern we review them, we see if there are any lessons to be learned," she told MPs.

In 2018-19, police officers in England and Wales used handcuffs just over 300,000 times.
Around 16% of those people cuffed were Black.

This means that, when we look at people who were handcuffed relative to their population in the 2011 Census, Black people were roughly six times more likely to be handcuffed than white people. Not all people who get arrested are handcuffed and not all handcuffed people get arrested.

However, the ratio of handcuffing to arrests shows a great discrepancy between Black and white people:

In 2018-19, 452,000 White people were arrested and 210,000 were handcuffed
Over the same period, 60,000 Black people were arrested and 49,000 were handcuffed

Ch Supt Karen Findlay, who is in charge of the Territorial Support Group which conducted the stop, and local area commander Helen Harper, also informed Ms Williams about the IOPC referral and the next steps in the process.

But Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball told the committee that there had been "good grounds" for the car to be stopped and at that point the officers involved did not know who was in it.

Nothing was found in the search, which the Met said was carried out by officers patrolling the Maida Vale area in response to an increase in violence involving weapons. The force also said the vehicle was seen driving suspiciously, including on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver sped off when asked to stop.

But this account was rejected by Ms Williams, who has said she is considering legal action against the Met.

"I feel very hurt by their actions, and to witness my partner being taken away and for me to be taken away from my son, my heart hurts," she said.

Met Police bosses say they want to speak to a Team GB sprinter who is accusing officers of racially profiling her in a stop and search.

Bianca Williams and Ricardo dos Santos, a Portuguese 400m runner, were stopped in Maida Vale, west London.

Commonwealth and European Games gold medal-winner Williams, whose three-month-old son was in the car at the time, called it an "awful experience".

Commander Helen Harper said she was "really keen" to speak to the couple "to discuss... the concerns they have".

The Met had said that officers were patrolling the area in which Ms Williams was stopped because of an increase in youth violence.

But the Ms Williams believes the couple were targeted because they are Black and were driving a Mercedes.

She said: "They [the officers] said there's a lot of youth violence and stabbings in the area and that the car looked very suspicious.

"They see a Black male driving a nice car, an all-black car, and they assume that he was involved in some sort of gang, drug, violence problem."

In a statement the Met said the Mercedes was stopped after it was seen driving suspiciously, including being on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver had sped off when asked to stop.

But this was rejected by Ms Williams, who said: "That is false, we were never on the wrong side of the road. We were driving down through single-width roads.

"We only found out about us driving on the wrong side of the road once they tweeted. This isn't the first or fourth or fifth time, it must be about the 10th. It's getting ridiculous.

"We are planning on taking it down the legal route. I feel very hurt by their actions, and to witness my partner being taken away and for me to be taken away from my son, my heart hurts."

The Met said officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards had reviewed footage from social media and officers' bodycams and were satisfied there was no concern around the officers' conduct during the stop and search of the two athletes.

"That does not mean there isn't something to be learnt from every interaction we have with the public," Cdr Helen Harper said.

"We want to listen to, and speak with, those who raise concerns, to understand more about the issues raised and what more we can do to explain police actions.

"Where we could have interacted in a better way, we need to consider what we should have done differently and take on that learning for the future."

Social media clips of police incidents must be treated with great care.

Often what you see is a short segment of an event that has gone on for some time; background information and context are seldom provided.

In this case, there are conflicting accounts as to what happened and why - which only an investigation is likely to resolve. Nevertheless, the incident has reignited claims stop and search is being targeted at Black people, particularly young men, and has given rise to concerns that handcuffs are being deployed unnecessarily, despite police guidance saying they should not be.

It appears the tactic, which Scotland Yard says has helped to reduce knife violence in London, remains as controversial and divisive as it's always been.

Speaking at a remote hearing of the House of Commons Human Rights Committee earlier, Baroness Lawrence said it was "ludicrous" that Black people could not drive around in expensive cars.

"Stop and search will continue to be an element young people go through on a day-to-day basis," said the campaigner, whose murdered son was failed by an "institutionally racist" Met Police.

"And when they are stopped, it is not just one officer or two officers, you have six or seven officers standing around one individual, a young person who is probably frightened to death because he doesn't know what is going to happen to him.

"So if now people have mobile phones and start recording what is happening to them, we have the issues where police say it is one thing and the individual says it's another, and the authority believes the police over the individual.

"That is something that continues to happen."

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he took allegations of racial profiling "extremely seriously" and he had raised the case with the Met.

The Independent Office for Police Complaints said it has not yet received an official complaint.

Aston Villa Women are delighted to announce the signing of England international Anita Asante from Chelsea.
 
The 35-year-old defender becomes Gemma Davies’ second signing of the summer as she reshapes her squad for their first season in the FA Women’s Super League.
 
Asante has racked up 70 caps for the Lionesses and continues an illustrious career which has included spells in the USA and Sweden.

Head Coach Davies said: “Anita will be joining us from Chelsea Women with an already tremendous amount of experience in the FA Women’s Super League, having also represented England at major tournaments.
 
“Anita’s on-ball ability lends itself superbly to that of a modern-day centre-half – happy to play in tight spaces, play under pressure and creative passes between lines.
 
“This is what a centre-half at Aston Villa looks like. But it’s her character and desire to be the best that sets her apart.
 
“We are all really looking forward to welcoming Anita at Bodymoor Heath for the start of pre-season.”
 
The Super League season is aiming for a start date of 5-6 September.

British sprinter Bianca Williams and her partner have accused the Metropolitan Police of racial profiling and acting violently towards them.

European and Commonwealth relay gold medallist Williams, 26, and Portuguese 400m record holder Ricardo dos Santos were stopped in a vehicle in London.

They fear they were targeted because they are Black and drive a Mercedes.

Police say the vehicle had been on the wrong side of the road and the driver sped off when asked to stop.

Officers were patrolling in the Maida Vale area because of an increase in youth violence.

A police statement said: "Officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards have reviewed both footage from social media, and the body-worn video of the officers, and are satisfied that there is no concern around the officers' conduct."

Williams and 25-year-old Dos Santos, who are training for next year's Tokyo Olympics, said that they plan to formally complain at being pulled from their car for a weapons search when returning home from a training session.

They say police handcuffed them while their three-month-old son was on board and carried out a search that lasted 45 minutes.

Dos Santos, who plans to meet lawyers, said that he had been stopped by police as many as 15 times since they changed their car to a Mercedes in November 2017.

Video of the incident showed them protesting that they had done nothing wrong and Williams screaming "my son is in the car".

The police statement said that at about 13:25 BST on Saturday officers from the Territorial Support Group "witnessed a vehicle with blacked-out windows that was driving suspiciously, including driving on the wrong side of the road".

The statement added: "They indicated for it to stop but it failed to do so and made off at speed. The officers caught up with the vehicle when it stopped on Lanhill Road. The driver initially refused to get out of the car."

After searching Williams and Dos Santos, and the vehicle, nothing was found and no arrests were made.

The incident was first raised on social media by their coach, 1992 Olympic 100m champion Linford Christie, who accused the police of abusing their power and institutionalised racism.

Williams, the fifth-fastest British woman in history over 200m, and Dos Santos said that a written report given to them by police did not mention driving on the wrong side of the road, and that where they stopped is a single car-width road.

Lewis Hamilton says some drivers' reluctance to take a knee before the Austrian Grand Prix is down to a lack of understanding of racism.

F1 drivers were set to take a collective stance against racism before Sunday's season-opening race, but some are not comfortable with the kneeling gesture.

Hamilton said he had made his point to the drivers at a meeting, adding: "I described the scenario that silence is really generally complicit. There is some silence in some cases."

World champion Hamilton added: "But I think it is part of a dialogue of people trying to understand, because there are still some people who don't fully understand what is happening and what is the reason for these protests and I continue to try to be that guide and try to influence as many people as I can with it."

A report earlier suggested that while the drivers were united in their opposition to racism, a minority had misgivings about taking a knee before the race.

This is partly because of the political connotations of the gesture in some countries, and partly because some did not appreciate what they saw as Hamilton's accusatory tone in his social media messages asking other senior figures in the sport to issue anti-racist statements following the murder in police custody of unarmed Black man George Floyd, in the US.

Briton Hamilton, 35, said that he was not accusing the drivers specifically, but rather the industry at large.

After qualifying second to Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the Red Bull Ring, he said: "In the meeting I acknowledged to a lot of drivers that there was an interpretation of a message I posted asking for people to speak out and their silence, and just saying thank you to who said something on their social media platforms because they have a great voice and platform and encouraging the others to say something."

All the drivers were expected to wear T-shirts bearing the message ‘End Racism’ before the race, and Hamilton added that he had not personally decided what other gestures to make.

"I don't have any plans at the moment," he said. "I have not thought that far forward, but I am sure over the evening we will. We spoke a bit in the drivers' briefing. Interesting. But it was good that we are all at least in discussion. I don't know what we will see - potentially people paying their respects in their own ways."

Asked whether he believed it constituted an issue if some drivers did not go down on one knee before the race, he replied: "We know there's an issue. We don't need an experience like tomorrow to prove there is an issue."

Red Bull driver Alexander Albon, a British-born Thai and F1's only other non-white driver, said: Of course I stand by diversity; every driver does.

"We are all going to take a minute to express a [desire for a] change in diversity. I don't know what we can say or not. I am going to leave it there. It is still in the works. You will see tomorrow. We are all against racism. We are going to take it individually."

Aston Villa Women are delighted to announce the signing of Scotland international Chloë Arthur from Birmingham City.
 
The 25-year-old midfielder will don the claret and blue for the 2020/21 season, having spent the last two campaigns with the club’s cross-city rivals.
 
Arthur, who has also spent time with Celtic, Hibernian and Bristol City during her career, is Gemma Davies’ first summer signing ahead of the new Barclays FA Women’s Super League season.

Davies said: “Chloë is a current Scottish International, who also has an abundance of Super league experience having played at Birmingham and Bristol City.
 
“She’s a very technical player, with a fantastic ability to weave the ball out of tight spaces, under pressure and play into bigger areas.
 
“I feel that there is so much more to come from Chloë, as she has a huge amount of talent and I’m really excited to see how she continues to develop in a Villa shirt.”
 
The Super League season is aiming for a start date of 5-6 September.

Ahead of the upcoming Test Series, West Indies captain, Jason Holder has said that players found guilty of racism should face the same penalties as match-fixing and dopers.

While the ICC (International Cricket Council) rules allow for a life ban for on-pitch racist abuse, culprits are rarely punished to that extent.

Holder said: “I don’t think that the penalty for doping or corruption should be, in any way, different for racism.

“If we have got issues within our sport, we must deal with them equally”.

A first offence results in four to eight suspension points.

Two suspension points equate to a ban for one Test ore two One Day International matches.

Holder, who is set to lead the West Indies side in a three-Test series beginning on July 8, said that an anti-racism feature can be introduced where players will be briefed about the issues ahead of each series.

Holder said: “In addition to having anti-doping briefing and anti-corruption briefings, maybe we should have an anti-racism feature before we start a series.

“My measure is more education needs to go around it.

“I’ve not experienced any racial abuse first hand but I’ve heard and seen a few things around it”.

He went on: “It’s something that you just can’t stand for”

British Athletics has today announced that the Müller British Athletics Championships will take place on Friday 4th and Saturday 5th September, with events to be held behind closed doors at the Manchester Regional Arena. 
 
The format and shape of the competition and guidelines that will be adhered to for competitors and those helping to stage the championship will be subject to the government guidelines in place and will be communicated in due course.
 
The championships will be broadcast live on Friday night on BBC2, 1830-2100 and Saturday, afternoon on BBC1, 1315-1630.
 
Joanna Coates, CEO of UK Athletics said: “We are delighted to be able to offer our athletes an opportunity to compete and still become British Champions at the end of the summer in what has been the most unprecedented of circumstances for all sport.
 
“People will be aware of my passion for women’s sport and I am grateful that the gender mix in athletics means everyone gets to return to the field of play. However, for those sports where men and women compete in separate structures, I urge those organisations to ensure efforts getting women’s sports back up and running are championed with the same passion and sense of urgency.
 
“Thanks to the BBC for supporting us to showcase our sport under the Friday evening lights, and also to Manchester City Council for their investment into the facility and working with us to confirm we could stage this event in such challenging times.
 
“We are sorry that we cannot host our brilliant athletics supporters this year but hope for a healthy return for fans at sports events next year and to welcoming spectators to next year’s Olympic trials scheduled for 26-27th June.”
 
Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member for Skills Culture and Leisure said: 
“Although Mancunians will sadly not be able to attend in person, we’re delighted to be working with British Athletics to enable the 2020 Müller British Athletics Championships event to go ahead.  
“As a world-class sporting city with elite facilities such as Manchester Regional Arena, plus a strong commitment to encouraging and widening sporting participation, Manchester is the natural choice to play host to this prestigious event.”
 
Ticket purchasers will receive an automatic refund via the method of payment originally used to buy tickets and will not need to do anything or make contact. However, given the extraordinary circumstances and high volumes placed on banks during these times, the refund process may take slightly longer than usual.
 
Finally, discussions are still ongoing with the Wanda Diamond League in relation to the Muller Grand Prix Gateshead which we can confirm is no longer scheduled for 16th August.   We have identified 12th September as a possible alternative however confirmation cannot be given at this time due to UK Government guidelines and restrictions and the event will now be held behind closed doors. Ticket purchasers will receive a full refund.

After recent events that uncovered the appalling lack of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) presence at a leadership level in the sport sector here in the UK, Recently it was reported there were only 5 black women on sports boards out of 415. We at Sporting Equals felt it key to highlight the lack of equality of opportunity in recruitment in our sector and how it impacts BAME communities.

Equality of opportunity in employment translates to, fairness in which all job applicants are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. Allowing each viable candidate an equal chance of success in securing employment.

The lack of equality of opportunity is prevalent in the sport sector. With potentially 95% of senior management, board members and the workforce being white. This lack of presence had already been acknowledged with change implemented by the FA to remedy the problem of racial prejudice hindering hiring practices in the sector looking at coaching specifically.

The FA introduced the ‘Rooney Rule’ – this rule implements a procedure whereby sporting authorities– must interview a BAME applicant when recruiting for senior coaching positions, on the basis that they meet the role specification. There is no quota or preference given to BAME communities in the hiring of candidates the rule simply reinforced equality of opportunity to worthy candidates, while accounting for unconscious and conscious bias against race. This rule first trialled in the USA to aid with similar issues of racial prejudice impacting hiring procedure in the NFL.

The FA followed suit and adopted the ‘Rooney Rule’ in 2018.

We feel it is pivotal to replicate the ‘Rooney Rule’ across the sport sector at every level from Board and senior positions right down to entry level, to ensure the eradication of nepotism within the sector tackling conscious and unconscious bias and dismantling of racially prejudiced hiring practices by allowing for candidates of all backgrounds who fit the role specifications to have an equal footing. We wish to go beyond coaching and leadership, looking at the sector as a whole. We must extend this rule across the board to create fairer and more equal recruiting practices in our sector. Recently the Minister for Sport Nigel Huddleston highlighted that he is open to looking at targets and reviewing implementing a ‘Rooney Rule’ structure here in the UK.

There is a severe lack of representation, diversity and equality when looking at race in the UK’s sport sector. An implementation of the ‘Rooney Rule’ across all levels of the sport sector would only positively affirm and ensure we are vetting, interviewing and hiring the best possible candidate – thus allowing for and protecting equality of opportunity.

We must now act and commit to making changes that will give real and visible results which we can measure and evaluate, this is a necessity if progress and equality is to be achieved.

Formula 1 has launched an equality and diversity taskforce to increase the opportunities for minority groups.

The move is part of a wider commitment that will also see F1 support initiatives fighting against the coronavirus pandemic and promote sustainability.

It coincides with the start of the delayed 2020 season in Austria in July.

Formula 1 boss Chase Carey said: “At our first race in Austria, Formula 1 will stand united to say loud and clear that racism

It follows after Lewis Hamilton announced plans to set up a commission in his name to increase diversity in motorsport.

The current – and six time – world champion said that he wants the Hamilton Commission to make “real, tangible and measurable changes”.

In a newspaper column he said: “Despite my success in the sport, the institutional barriers that have kept F1 highly exclusive persist.

“It is not enough to point to me, or to a single new Black hire, as a meaningful example of progress”.

Parents are being offered an online ‘sports day at home’ pack thanks to a leading housebuilder’s partnership with Team GB.
 
With the current Covid-19 crisis still unfolding, many parents have had to get used to home schooling amid the uncertainty of when their children will return to school.
 
Now Persimmon Homes Central, thanks to its ongoing partnership with The British Olympic Association, is offering parents the chance to download special sports packs for free and start planning their own sports day at home.
 
World Championship silver medallist and Team GB Tokyo 2020 hopeful Laviai Nielsen (athletics) helped to launch the virtual sports day scheme.
 
The campaign also includes a social media competition asking people to take a picture or video of their home sports day and either comment on Facebook or upload to Instagram with the hashtag #PersimmonSportsDay to be in with a chance of winning a £250 Amazon voucher.
 
Neil Williams, managing director of Persimmon Homes Central,  said: “We are all going through unprecedented times, and we hope that our sports day campaign will bring a smile to people’s faces and help households plan a day of fun and activity. These packs are designed to help inspire the sporting passion of the younger generation.”
 
The sports day packs support the British Olympic Foundation’s youth engagement programme, Get Set, created to inspire a generation of young people and celebrate the Olympic values of respect, excellence and friendship.
 
Last year, the housebuilder supported schools by sending out free Team GB sports day packs, to help give events a special Olympic and Team GB twist.
 
To download a virtual sports day pack, visit https://www.persimmonhomes.com/sportsday