WILLIAM gave racism the red card as he helped at a referee course aimed at improving diversity in football.
The Prince of Wales, 42, joked he “broke the record for the number of high fives in ten minutes” after meeting eager fans at Sporting Khalsa FC, an amateur club in Willenhall, West Midlands.
William gave racism the red card as he helped at a referee course aimed at improving diversity in football[/caption]
William raises his ref’s flag at the event[/caption]
Wills joked he ‘broke the record for the number of high fives in ten minutes’ after meeting eager fans at Sporting Khalsa FC[/caption]
The Aston Villa fan had earlier made a private visit to wish the team good luck ahead of tonight’s vital Champions League knockout tie.
When William finally made it onto the pitch near Wolverhampton, he told the club’s directors Manjit Gill and Inder Grewal: “Sorry to keep you guys waiting. I just broke the record for the number of high fives in ten minutes.”
Remarking that the six-year-old all-weather pitch was “in good nick”, the prince asked: “What is attracting people to play at the moment from different backgrounds? How are you bringing them in?”
The prince, who is patron of the Football Association, was visiting the club which was established in 1991 to hear about a referee training course designed to improve diversity in the sport.
The FA aims to recruit 1,000 people from Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage into refereeing roles as part of its Reflective and Representative campaign.
Now two years into its three-year programme, the FA has already exceeded the original target and is looking to grow the numbers further.
It comes nearly five years after a 53-page diversity report compiled by the Black, Asian and Mixed Ethnicity Referee Support Group alleged that some FA observers made racist comments about referees, effectively blocking them from being promoted to the higher leagues.
Sporting Khalsa FC is one of several clubs across the country that is running courses to teach Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage people over the age of 14 how to become match officials.
On the pitch he was given a crash course in becoming a referee and where he was taught about different whistle tones and flag signals.
But jogging up and down he was told at one point that he didn’t need to blow the whistle.
Then joined a mini kickabout to referee students participating in the course.
Levi Gray, a lieutenant in the British Army and a professional referee, who was part of the officiating team for the 2024 Women’s FA Cup at Wembley Stadium, said afterwards: “We spoke about improving diversity in football and how at the grassroots it can be quite a vulnerable place for people because you don’t have the protection that you have in the professional game so it’s how communities like this [in Walsall] are helping people.”
Raj Randhawa, the FA’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion delivery manager, said afterwards: “For him to come and visit and take time out of his day and meet some of the participants starting their referee journey, it will live long in the memories for them but personally for me as well.”
Villa Park hosts the last 16 tie with Villa taking a 3-1 lead from the first leg away against Club Brugge.
