FA chairman Greg Clarke resigns after using racial slur during call with MPs

Clarke resigned just hours after making the remarks during a call with MPs

Chairman Greg Clarke has resigned from the Football Association after using the racial slur “coloured” during a meeting with the Digital, Culture, Media, Sport committee on Tuesday.

Clarke, who has been in the job since September 2016, apologised after making the remarks during a call with MPs; a call during which he also perpetuated racial stereotypes surrounding Asian people, and implied being gay was a “life choice”.

“If you go to the IT department at the FA there’s a lot more South Asians than there are Afro Caribbeans. They have different career interests,” he said.

He apologised during the call for the words he used, saying: “If I said it I deeply apologise for it, I worked in the USA for many years and was required to use the phrase ‘people of colour’ and I sometimes trip up on my words.”

Following his remarks, football’s leading anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out published a statement, calling Clare’s comments “unacceptable.”

“I was extremely disappointed to see Greg Clarke’s comments today in the DCMS select committee,” said Kick It Out chairman Sanjay Bhandari.

“His use of outdated language to describe black and Asian people as “coloured” is from decades ago and should remain consigned to the dustbin of history.

“Being gay is not a ‘life choice’ as he claimed too. The casual sexism of saying ‘girls’ do not like balls hit at them hard, is staggering from anyone, let alone the leader of our national game.

“It is completely unacceptable.”

Greg Clarke set to quit as FA chairman. Story with @martynziegler on @TimesSport shortly

— Matt Lawton (@Lawton_Times) November 10, 2020

He had been called to speak to MPs regarding Project Big Picture, the highly controversial and much publicised plan by the Premier League’s ‘big six’ to reform the top flight and the football league, before inadvertently drawing attention to himself with a slew of inappropriate comments, including the use of the term “coloured”, an outdated and highly offensive term.

In a statement on the Football Association website, Clarke said:

“As a person who loves football and has given decades of service to our game, it is right that I put the interests of football first.

“2020 has been a challenging year and I have been actively considering standing down for some time to make way for a new Chair now our CEO transition is complete and excellent executive leadership under Mark Bullingham is established. 

“My unacceptable words in front of Parliament were a disservice to our game and to those who watch, play, referee and administer it. This has crystallised my resolve to move on. 

“I am deeply saddened that I have offended those diverse communities in football that I and others worked so hard to include. 

“I would like to thank my friends and colleagues in the game for the wisdom and counsel they have shared over the years and resign from the FA with immediate effect.”