Football Association: Improving South Asian representation 'long-term aim'

The Football Association has told Sky Sports News that addressing the "stark" under-representation of South Asians in the professional game is now "a long-term aim".

Yasir Mirza, who was appointed FA director of equality, diversity and inclusion last year, said the FA's key mantra "A Game for All" is about ensuring English football is inclusive for everybody, including Britain's South Asian community.

"I think the challenge is quite stark around South Asian representation in the elite game," added Mirza, who was speaking at a Football and Faith event at Wembley Stadium ahead of Eid.

"Keeping our foot on the pedal I think is a really, really important job for us. It's a long-term goal. It's a long-term aim for us."

South Asians are the largest single ethnic minority group in the country, making up around 10 per cent of the population of England and Wales, but they remain severely under-represented at the highest levels of the game.

Entering the final stretch of the season, it is all-but certain the Premier League will not feature a British South Asian for the second successive campaign - the first time that has happened for almost 15 years.

In fact, just one footballer from the community plays regularly in the men's second tier, Leicester City's Hamza Choudhury - with only one regular in the Women's Championship, Blackburn Rovers' Millie Chandarana.

Both players were named in last year's first-of-its-kind South Asians in Football Team of the Season.

The comments from Mirza, who is part of the Football Association's senior management team, represent a step-change in direction for English football's governing body.

The FA has traditionally taken a broader Pan-Asian approach to ethnic representation, leading to discontent among