English football's highest-ranked Black referee, Sam Allison, and the top ref from the South Asian community, Sunny Singh Gill, to be part of officiating quartet for Swindon's League Two game with Leyton Orient; Kick It Out's Tony Burnett says "stats on South Asian players don't stack up"
Wednesday 13 April 2022 19:27, UK
The country's highest-ranked Black referee will link up with the top referee from Britain's South Asian community to preside over Swindon vs Leyton Orient on Easter Monday.
Sam Allison and Sunny Singh Gill will "break down barriers" when they officiate together in the League Two clash at the County Ground in another landmark moment for refereeing in English football.
Allison will take charge of the fixture between 11th-placed Swindon and 14th-placed Leyton Orient, with National League referee Singh Gill acting as the fourth official.
Singh Gill - son of the first turbaned referee to grace league football Jarnail Singh - told Sky Sports News: "It's an absolute privilege to work with Sam for the first time for an EFL fixture. Sam is someone I am in regular contact with and try and learn from.
"Working with colleagues from diverse ethnic communities should be normal and not just a one-off but this is most definitely a step in the right direction."
Allison said he is relishing the opportunity to work with a friend and fellow diverse match official on the same game in an EFL game.
"I'm really looking forward to it," Alisson told Sky Sports News.
"It's always pleasure going out with your mates and especially when we've both had similar journeys and experiences.
"It's going to be great supporting and learning from a fellow match official as we continue to break down barriers."
Allison is a firefighter and former semi-professional footballer, and became just the second Black referee in English Football League history - behind only Uriah Rennie - at the beginning of the 2020-21 season.
Both continue to progress as match officials in their own right, with father Jarnail Singh telling Sky Sports News in February that his sons are giving members of the community hope that they can make it in the game.
"As a parent, I'm very proud that the boys have followed in my footsteps and they are doing themselves and the community proud," Jarnail told Sky Sports News.
"I never say that they are doing well because it only takes one game and they are back to where they started in terms of merit positions.
"But I can see that they are more committed than ever because they both want to progress to the next level, so they really are giving it 110 per cent.
"Making history last season, of course, it naturally gave them a lift and more thirst for success - especially as it was covered so positively in the media. At the same time, both are laid back and they pretty much just take things in their stride.
"And if they do well, and hopefully take that next step, they can be in the spotlight a little more and go on to become even greater role models for our future generations of referees, players and coaches."
Kick It Out chief executive Tony Burnett says 'the stats don't stack up' when it comes to the representation of British South Asian footballers at elite level.
British South Asians are the largest single ethnic minority group in the country yet the community has been massively under-represented in the professional game for decades, with Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari describing it as the biggest statistical anomaly in football.
Speaking at the South Asian Football Network event at Leyton Orient, Burnett offered hope to those who want to see a more diverse and truly representative game by indicating the landscape around British South Asians in Football was about to "change significantly over the next few months".
He added: "We don't think there is a huge problem when it comes to participation at grassroots level. Where we have a problem and where we need to address the problem is that there are not enough [British South Asian players at elite level].
"And the reason for that is we have not focused enough on the talent pathways for South Asian players - male and female - getting through that pyramid, into the academies and into the professional setup.
"It's complex when you break it down so we need to look at things like scouting networks, who is doing the scouting? We're not necessarily saying that only South Asian scouts can spot South Asian talent but we all know that representation reflects your own personal biases
"The other challenge is how talent is assessed and developed within the academy structure. That's owned by the Premier League predominantly.
"We've started to really look at with the Premier League what is going on in the academy structure. What is it in terms of the assessment, the nurturing, the development of South Asian talent that is going wrong because the stats don't stack up in terms of grassroots representation through to the professional game, and we have to fix that."
Leyton Orient player Otis Khan, FA Board member Rupinder Bains and West Ham academy link mentor Rashid Abba were among the speakers at the free event at the Breyer Group Stadium in the heart of east London, hosted by Paul Kirton from Grassroots Football UK, and Soccer Social LDN, in association with the Fans for Diversity campaign.
There was unprecedented demand to get into the event, with people travelling from across the length and the breadth of the country to learn more about British South Asians in Football.
Brighton academy midfielder and England youth international Layth Gulzar, Brentford director Nity Raj and Derby County Women's first-team coach Kiran Singh Savage were among those in the crowd, alongside Birmingham City Women's academy full-back Layla Banaras, who was there with her family as guests of the Sky Sports and Sporting Equals partnership.
Sky Sports worked with Birmingham City to help support Banaras launch her Ramadan nutrition guide and meal planner ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month last year. The talented defender and her family brought updated versions of both the guide and the meal planner as gifts for to share with guests who attended the free event at Leyton Orient.
Sky Sports News understands that football clubs across the country are now competing to host the next South Asian Football Network event.
Sky Sports announced a partnership with Sporting Equals last month to support one of the charity's ambitions of inspiring more opportunities for British South Asians in football.
The partnership stems from a shared desire to help tackle under-representation by addressing some of the barriers affecting the participation and progression of British South Asian football talent, particularly in the women's game.
Active Lives survey data has consistently shown that South Asian women are the least physically active group in the country, and just 0.3 per cent of players in the top division of English women's football, the FA Women's Super League, hail from the British South Asian community.
Moving forward, Sky and Sporting Equals will work together to raise awareness and educate the public on this topic, collaborating with other stakeholders to create opportunities for talent to flourish, and supporting participation in the game.
Jonathan Licht, managing director of Sky Sports, said: "Sky Sports is proud to give a platform to help inspire more opportunities for the South Asian community to get involved in football.
"Collectively we are striving for greater equality in sport and, as Europe's largest sports broadcaster, we're well placed to highlight under-representation in the game and use our platforms to drive change in this space.
"Building on the excellent job Sky Sports News has done over the past year, the partnership with Sporting Equals is a step further in our commitment to ensuring all audiences feel represented by our content."
Sporting Equals chief executive, Arun Kang OBE, said: "Sporting Equals is pleased to be partnering with Sky on this important work, which is a significant step towards engaging and celebrating South Asian communities in football, by removing outdated and negative stereotypes to inspire the next generation of players, coaches and football administrators.
"It is vital to highlight viable role models, which we will be doing through this project by showcasing football ambassadors, particularly South Asian females throughout community settings. With the support of Sky through this partnership we will seek to tackle these issues and demonstrate the true capabilities of South Asians in football."
British South Asians in Football
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