Drive to increase diversity of football match officials picks up momentum
BAMREF, which helps give voice to black, Asian and mixed heritage referees, made real breakthroughs last season
For Joel Mannix, witnessing Sam Allison becoming the first black Premier League referee for 15 years when he took charge of Sheffield United against Luton in December was just the start. A founder member of BAMREF – an organisation that seeks to give a voice and support to all officials from black, Asian and mixed heritage communities – Mannix has devoted the past three years to helping others overcome the barriers he faced. “I knew I would never see the promised land as a referee,” he recalls. “I was getting bored with the same old negative words from observers. Sometimes when doors keep closing on you it can get disheartening …”
But with Sunny Gill having made history in March when he became the first British Asian referee to officiate in the English top flight, some progress appears to have been made after more than a decade in the wilderness since the retirement of Uriah Rennie in 2008. However, Mannix – who is preparing for the third BAMREF conference on Sunday at Anfield – believes there is still plenty of work required to recruit the next generation of referees from diverse backgrounds.
