Is the Footbal l Associ ation i nstituti onally racist against the Asi an

community or are there other barriers affecting Bangl adeshi pl ayers from
enteri ng professi onal football ?
Intro:

This dissertation will be questioning whether the Football Association is institutionally racist
against the Asian community or whether there are other barriers affecting Bangladeshi
players from entering professional football in the UK. At this current point in time there are
8 British Asian football players with contracts out of the 4,000 players in Britain with
professional contracts. (www.premierleague.com- 13/10/14). However, this number does
not reflect the huge popularity of football among the Asian community, especially the young
footballers. Asian groups (Burdsey 2007; Saeed & Kilvington 2011; Kilvington & Price 2013).
Research collected from Manchester University (1991 in Asians in Football Forum 2005: 9)
found that British Bangladeshi boys, for instance, played football more frequently than white
British boys. Yet, British Asian football communities remain isolated from the mainstream
game. Britain is home to over 4 million British Asians, which is Britains biggest ethnic
minority. This statistic makes you question how its possible to have a possible 4 million
people being represented by 8 people. Therefore this means that football represents an
unequal sphere. In my opinion, football should be representative of who plays it the most
around the world. At the end of the day, football is a universal sport; it does not belong to a
specific country. No race or nationality should be cut off from taking this sport but this
happens today. Football should bring different cultures together; one culture shouldnt be
shut out. This dissertation will be highlighting the key obstacles that stand in the way of
aspiring young Asian footballers. This paper will be looking how and why the gatekeepers
(scouts and coaches) somewhat exclude this ethnic minority. It will also be looking at if the
barriers these young footballers face is in there own culture; if their culture allows them to
make that step to becoming a footballer. Also, how this ethnic minority has dug itself a hole
by creating separate football league to stay away from racism and how this affects their
chances from getting into professional football. Lastly, this piece will be looking to see if the
biological differences between these Asian players and other ethnicities keep Asians out of
professional football.