After England’s consistently impressive women’s football team defeated Japan 4-0 on Friday night, Ian Wright and Eni Aluko highlighted a different story about a lack of diversity in the sport. Wright stated, “It’s a systemic problem and we’re only dealing with it incidentally.”
Former England international and current sporting director of Angel City in the American National Women’s Soccer League, Aluko concurred. “It’s not Beth’s issue,” she stated. “This is a systemic issue.”
This crucial distinction was lost on social media as a result of Mead’s unacceptable abuse. The issue became “a Mead problem” due to the necessity of posing a single question. It has since become another “incident” that obscures systemic racism in women’s football development.
I believe neither Mead nor I handled this minor but crucial aspect of an otherwise positive interview appropriately. I mentioned to Mead near the end of our allocated time that, unlike England’s men’s team, her squad consisted primarily of white women. “Is there a clear explanation or is it merely a coincidence?” I asked. This use of the loaded term “coincidence” was a clumsy way of asking whether systemic racism could have alternative causes.
Mead stated, “I believe it to be a complete coincidence. We field our best 11 players, and you do not consider anyone’s race or anything similar. I believe that is more of an outsider’s viewpoint.”
After the interview was published online on Tuesday of last week, Mead asked Arsenal if I would be willing to provide “context.” I agreed and carried the full text that Arsenal provided to me, which they and Mead co-produced: “Mead believes that more should be done to ensure that football is accessible to all at the grassroots level to promote diversity at all levels. She argues, though, that racism is not a factor in women’s professional football.
So I was surprised that in an interview with Sky Sports on the same Friday night that Wright and Aluko spoke so thoughtfully, Mead took a different approach. After the game against Japan, she complained that her additional diversity-related comments from our interview had been omitted.
Everyone who has heard the recording agrees that this statement is simply false. It is also unhelpful to Mead and the larger discussions we need to have about the lack of diversity in some areas of women’s football.
“I believe the way it was written was unfair,” she told. “My values and beliefs are opposed to what was written. It does not accurately reflect who I am as a person. Regarding diversity and everything else in the game, I want to be there, in the foreground and assisting with that.
I mentioned in the interview that I was aware of the FA’s efforts in this regard. That was rejected during the interview. Unfortunately, it made me look worse in that context, but unfortunately, such things occur in the media these days… so don’t always believe what you read.”
Mead’s accusations against me are obviously of much less importance than the troubling issues of racism in sports. But it is appropriate to provide some context. Regarding “fairness,” I should have inquired Mead further. The proportion of black, Asian, and minority ethnic players in the Women’s Super League is estimated to be between 10 and 15 percent, compared to approximately 33 percent in the Premier League, according to a report published by The Times over the weekend.
As the audio of our interview demonstrates, I ummed and ahhed out loud during a lengthy pause following Mead’s response. During those few seconds, I was contemplating whether to ask Mead and her family additional questions about race and football in light of their difficult personal circumstances.
In the end, I decided not to push Mead on the matter because I believed that individuals in positions of authority should be asked more difficult questions – not a young woman still recovering after a year of glory and concern.
Mead agreed to the interview to promote her new book. We discussed a variety of topics, and Mead candidly acknowledged her past fears. I am certain I delivered a balanced article about her. She is appropriately cited because each interview response is documented in its entirety.
My inquiries are merely paraphrased, but in this instance, I should have utilized my actual remarks from the audio. In the original, I questioned whether “this oddity shows there may be a lingering issue of racial bias in the evolution of English women’s football.”
I had emailed the online story to an Arsenal representative who attended the interview, and he requested that I alter that particular sentence. I did it instantly, and the revised interview asked, “Is there a particular explanation for this anomaly, or is it just a coincidence?”
Mead has had an exceptional year, and her accomplishments have been appropriately praised. The same can be said for her England team. This summer, Mead and her colleagues broke into the mainstream of sport following decades of discrimination against female footballers. It was thrilling, but it seemed odd that the vast majority of their Euros-winning group was white, given that people of various races enjoy and play football well in this country.
Refusing to acknowledge a glaring disparity, blaming the media, or arguing that there are no such issues at the highest levels of the game does not make the problem go away for those who advocate women’s football.
Meanwhile, the “incident” between two white individuals over a single question about diversity diverts attention away from the systematic racism that should be our major emphasis. Wright and Aluko, speaking with measured clarity, brought this fact to our attention. As he thought on our interview, Wright told ITV, “I contacted Beth and spoke with her.”
“We had a wonderful conversation. Yes, it was a little disheartening to discover that, considering I am quite fond of Beth. What was said will remain private, but I believe it was a pivotal opportunity for her to ponder and grow.”
According to Aluko, the lack of diversity in women’s football is “a recruitment and recruitment methods issue.” It is about expanding the pool of players for Sarina Wiegman [England’s manager], the younger age groups, and the academies to select from. She stated that “talent is unquestionably present” but “inclusion is not.”
Wright continued, “It’s also not a new discussion. It always seems as though we are beginning from scratch. But his intensity was striking: “Many resources and efforts are still devoted to [combating racism in the men’s game]. You desire the same amount of energy and resources in the women’s game.”
