Working in partnership with the FA and Bradford City, Mesut Ozil has announced the launching of the Football for Peace Mesut Ozil Centre – a development centre in Bradford aimed at breaking down barriers for the South Asian community to follow a path into elite sport.
The centre will hold football and life skill sessions at Bradford AFC’s training ground, and inevitably try to tackle the, as Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari puts it, “biggest statistical anomaly in football”; that being the fact that despite making up approximately eight percent of the UK population, South Asians in England account for just 0.25 percent of the players across the football leagues.
The former Arsenal and Real Madrid star has taken notice, stating “I have always been surprised why the South Asian Community are only allowed to be fans of the game, why are we not seeing more players or managers breaking into professional football? I want to support them, give them an opportunity to be successful both on and off the pitch. I myself am from an ethnically diverse background and understand the challenges. I hope the Football for Peace Mesut Özil Centre will become the platform they need.”
It’s no question that the pre-existing construction of the footballing pyramid does not nearly allow enough opportunities for ethnically diverse communities, particularly of South Asian descent, to progress through positions in academy, management and media throughout the country.
The British Asians in Sport and Physical Activity organisation says the lack of representation in elite-level sport is “astounding”, indicating that outdated stereotypes are undoubtedly part of the issue.
“While other ethnically diverse communities are able to find their way into elite-level sports, the British South Asian community is often overlooked,” BASPA coaching vice-chair, Manisha Tailor said.
“There is also a lot of misinformation and outdated stereotypes about our community, which has created unconscious bias towards our energy and passion for sports that aren’t just cricket or hockey.”
The Co-Founder of Football for Peace and Football Diplomat, and former Pakistan International, Kashif Siddiqi, has further built upon this notion.
“Football has given me so much”, Siddiqi said, “and working with Mesut we want to create a platform that will provide a framework inside the football pyramid between professional clubs and also our community. Whilst it is important to see greater representation in professional sport, it is also vital to recognise the power football can have on communities. Our ongoing engagement with young people and communities also seeks to contribute to reducing the devastating effects of Covid-19 which has also led to reducing the amount of sports participation, especially South Asian Community are engaging in.”
Give props to Mesut Ozil, who continues to demonstrate his fearlessness in fighting for matters which he believes extend far beyond the game. The world needs more people like him, and the football pyramid needs more people like those he is fighting for.
