{"id":716736,"date":"2026-06-05T10:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/716736\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T10:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:27:09","slug":"football-regulator-will-reject-call-to-play-bigger-role-in-promoting-equality-at-clubs-football-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/716736\/","title":{"rendered":"Football regulator will reject call to play bigger role in promoting equality at clubs | Football politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) is poised to reject calls from Kick It Out<\/a> to take on a greater role in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) throughout the sport.<\/p>\n

The IFR has decided, after a second round of consultation over its licensing terms, not to meet Kick It Out\u2019s demands to set EDI targets for clubs and it will not compel them to submit annual reports on the demographic makeup of staff.<\/p>\n

Kick It Out has been lobbying for the IFR to put a greater onus on EDI since the government-backed body was created last year. Kick It Out\u2019s chief executive, Samuel Okafor, described the regulator\u2019s initial proposals as \u201cinadequate\u201d and accused it, in correspondence sent to the IFR in March, of \u201cputting equality on the subs\u2019 bench\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The IFR responded by saying it was \u201cpremature to assert deficiencies in our approach to EDI\u201d when it was preparing to launch a second consultation on its licensing policy.<\/p>\n

The IFR is understood to have seriously considered Kick It Out\u2019s requests during the consultation with clubs and other stakeholders that closed last month, but concluded that EDI targets and annual reporting in particular were outside its remit.<\/p>\n

The IFR\u2019s conclusions are believed to stem from the fact that it is primarily a financial regulator designed to promote sustainability across the men\u2019s professional game, and to prevent a repeat of the mismanagement that led to Bury being expelled from the English Football League<\/a> in 2019 and folding.<\/p>\n

During the final passage of the Football Governance Act last year MPs were given the opportunity to add EDI targets for clubs to the IFR\u2019s responsibilities but did not do so and the regulator has concluded its ability to act was limited by the powers granted in the legislation.<\/p>\n

The IFR is also understood to consider EDI a matter for the Football Association, which has taken steps to try to increase the diversity of those working in football in recent years, particularly in coaching and executive positions.<\/p>\n

The FA launched a voluntary football leadership diversity code in 2020 which introduced targets for \u201cto drive diversity and inclusion\u201d, but clubs have not met targets of 15% of new hires to be from a black or ethnic minority background and 30% to be women.<\/p>\n

The FA strengthened the code by making the reporting of workforce data mandatory and there are now sanctions for missing the targets. Reporting has to take place every two years.<\/p>\n

EDI policy does form part of the IFR\u2019s remit, with the licensing system requiring the 116 clubs in the top five divisions to report on actions they have taken to improve EDI in their corporate governance statements, which must be submitted to the IFR and published on their websites.<\/p>\n

Kick It Out regards this as insufficient and a missed opportunity, and is expected to make a public statement after the IFR\u2019s updated licensing rules are published next month.<\/p>\n

The IFR declined to comment on the likely content of those rules, but a spokesperson said: \u201cEquality, diversity and inclusion is a key element of the Football Governance Act. The IFR is currently developing an EDI policy for the 116 regulated clubs it oversees, and is engaging extensively with organisations such as Kick It Out to ensure best practice. We will publish our full consultation response and final rules and guidance shortly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IFR\u2019s approach to diversity received further criticism in April when it emerged that its nine-strong government-appointed board did not contain a director from a minority ethnic background. There are no plans to add to the board, whose appointments were made by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.<\/p>\n

A Kick It Out spokesperson said: \u201cWe look forward to further positive discussions with the IFR about our equality, diversity and inclusion proposals for the club code of governance. This is a chance to shape a future where football truly represents the communities it serves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) is poised to reject calls from Kick It Out to take on a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-716736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}