Maybe the VAR came in and helped the situation with refereeing (and we can argue about that too), but it doesn’t mean the English referees are better for it. In fact, the crisis is in full swing, since the clubs are complaining about the decisions taken by man in black, and since we are talking about black, there is an insignificant number of non-white referees in English football. To add salt to the wound, no English referees were present at the 2018 World Cup for the first time in 80 years. OK, to be fair, Mark Clattenburg was the nominated official and then moved to Saudi Arabia, but that was enough for the British officials to switch the ‘red lamp’.#blackhistorymonth | Uriah Rennie was one of the first Black referees to officiate games in the Football League, taking charge of over 300 @premierleague matches. Following his retirement, Uriah was elected as an FA Council Member. pic.twitter.com/Ey0XELzVY3— London FA ⚽ (@LondonFA) October 4, 2021 Two England officials will be present in Qatar 2022: Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor but the problems remain. For example, when was the last time a non-white referee was in a charge of the Premier League match? It was Uriah Rennie, to date the only black Premier League referee, in 2008 when Liverpool won 2-0 at White Hart Lane on the last day of the league.Mendy: ‘Being an African did me a disservice for Ballon d’Or’It was 14 years ago. Bolton, Portsmouth, Blackburn and Hull were still in the elite competition, Samir Nasri played for Arsenal, Fernando Torres for Liverpool and Nicolas Anelka from Chelsea was toe to toe with Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester with 19 goals scored. And nothing since. Even today, 97% of all referees are white. Of the 254 officials operating across Select Group 1 (Premier League), Group 2 (Championship) and National Group (Leagues One and Two), 247 are white. Currently, only Akil Howson and Sam Allison are black among officials, and there are five from minority ethnic backgrounds. There are five female officials, and two of them are Premier League assistant.Tackling environment problems by scoring goals? A young Kenyan has a great idea!A new development scheme to help improve the standard of refereeing in English football has been created by the Premier League: ‘Elite Referee Development Plan’. The aim is to establish a new global standard in match officiating performance and development, and to help officials from under-represented backgrounds break into the game. But, it will certainly take time for this scheme to start brining benefits.##NAJAVA_MECA_6528600##Meanwhile, the last black Premier League official has his ideas why there is a lack of black officials within the professional game.“There are a number of reasons really, it’s complex but certainly stems from wider societal attitudes towards people of colour generally. I am in no doubt that in the past, being a black referee has impacted perception and progression but I am confident times are changing for the better and the FA are working harder to improve representation… so even though there is, and will only be, one Uriah Rennie, hopefully, the next Black man in the middle in the Premier League is just around the corner” said Rennie in an interview in April 2022. Let’s see when the next one will arrive.
