Stormzy announces football diversity programme, BBC announces special programming around new album
completemusicupdate.comStormzy has announced this morning that he’s teaming up with Adidas to launch a football focused work placement programme called #Merky FC.
It will offer young people of black heritage the opportunity to get experience of working in football industry roles off the pitch, in a bid to improve diversity on that side of the sport.Although 39% of roles on the pitch are taken up by players with black or mixed black heritage, behind the scenes only 6.7% of senior roles are, according to research carried out by Adidas and the FARE Network. #Merky FC aims to change that by offering paid work placements to black people aged between eighteen and 24 years old.Various companies and organisations within and beyond the football sector are supporting the scheme, including Manchester United, Fulham FC, UEFA, Sky, LADbible, Footballco, Versus, KSS and Warner Music.“Just 6.7% of senior roles in football are taken by someone who identifies as black or mixed black heritage”, says Stormzy. “We barely see any black team managers, coaches, sports presenters, assistants, ops managers, sales managers, accountants, marketing managers or physiotherapists – the list goes on, nor are many of us even aware of the vast roles available within the football industry.
Through the #Merky FC initiative we hope to inspire real change within this field as part of my wider commitment to support racial equality in the UK”.“With the support of Adidas and the additional ten partners, we will be in a position to aid the people who may have experienced disadvantages during their football career pathway”, he continues. “We strongly encourage other companies to join us in our mission”.A spokesperson for Adidas adds: “We are passionate about providing inclusive.
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