Earlier this week, Greg Clarke was forced to resign as Chairmanof the FA over unacceptable comments against minorityplayers. He has since resigned his position as FIFA Vice President. Bizarrely, aseries of offensive comments, at one point Clarke referred to blackplayers as “coloured footballers”, was made during what should have been aninformed contribution to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and SportSelect Committee, regarding the racist abuse of players online.

Initially, Clarke attempted to justify his words, saying hewas “a product of having worked overseas, in the US for many years, where I wasrequired to use the term ‘people of colour’ because that was a product of theirdiversity legislature”. Unfortunately, this was not his only transgression.Within a short space of time, Clarke managed to make regressive commentsagainst gay and female footballers as well as South Asian people.

There are several issues here. That the language and ideas behind these comments are prejudiced is clear. But the terminology itself is widely-accepted as outdated. Asa result, Clarke appeared uninformed and uneducated, not a good look for thehead of such a high-profile organisation. Perhaps he was not paying dueattention, or maybe he did not sufficiently care around issues of inclusion.Whatever the reason, it highlighted the lack of education at the very top ofthe game, and of course, the urgent need for diverse talent.

To put into some context, a third of professional players inthe men's game are from black and Asian backgrounds, contributing significantlyto revenues. Yet English football at the highest level is still controlled bywhite men. Of the 10 board members (before Clarke’s departure), there are noblack members and just one representative from a minority background, inRupinder Bains.

Female representation at the top is marginally better,although until 2017 Dame Heather Rabbatts was the only women sitting.Unfortunately it is a fact, that the English Women’s league enjoys nowhere nearthe profile of the Men's game.

In a BBC interview earlier this week, Ballon d’Or Femininand Best FIFA Women’s Player 2019, Megan Rapinoe, singled out ManchesterUnited, the third biggest club by revenue in the World, for only launching itsWomen’s team in 2018.  “It’s 2020. Howlong has the Premier League been around? And we are only just seeing a clublike Manchester United put effort and pounds towards a women’s team? Frankly,it’s disgraceful”.

Similarly, this year Liverpool were relegated from the FAWomen’s National League. Compare this with the recent successes of the Men’steam and one can’t help but feel that the Women’s game is an after-thought forPremier League’s big hitters.

Finally, there was the shocking news earlier this week thatthe FA had made the inexplicable decision to suspend elite girls’ footballduring this lockdown, whilst the boys' academy will remain open. For a sportingcommunity that’s already on the wrong end of a profound gender pay gap, this isjust another kick in the teeth.

All in all, it has been another depressing week for theBeautiful Game and unless problems at the top are urgently addressed, itsleaders are storing up real issues for future generations.