Nigel Huddleston: "The time is absolutely right to review the Sports Governance Code, and set new expectations. I will be working with UK Sport and Sport England to ensure the sport sector leads by example"
Thursday 11 June 2020 21:40, UK
Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston has vowed to "set new expectations" for the Sports Governance Code, amid a push to ensure more multicultural representation at boardroom level.
Despite the implementation of the code, multicultural board members currently account for just 5.2 per cent of all board members across sports bodies funded by Sport England and UK Sport.
Huddleston said: "I am committed to working with sports to ensure opportunities to progress are open to all, from athletes to administrators, to board members.
"The time is absolutely right to review the Sports Governance Code, and set new expectations. I will be working with UK Sport and Sport England to ensure the sport sector leads by example."
Under the code, which was initially developed in 2015, organisations seeking funding from those bodies are assessed and must demonstrate their ability to meet certain standards, including those on diversity.
However, there is clearly a desire to expedite the process with multicultural representatives still largely absent from boardrooms across many of the nation's most prominent sports bodies.
Former Chelsea and Leeds defender Michael Duberry has called for greater transparency in the selection process for roles within English football.
Duberry says the sport is in dire need of more diverse representation in boardrooms and in decision-making roles.
"We need to see more black people on the coaching levels, more black people on boardroom level so that the way of thinking is diverse," Duberry told Sky Sports News.
"At the moment the way of thinking is all the same because there is not a different voice, not a different way of seeing things. The way of thinking is the same.
"The selection process will be the same so unless you start getting some diverse people on the boards, the way of thinking will always be the same and it will filter right down to the grassroots level."
England Women's World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi says she wants to become RFU president one day, citing a need for "advocates in positions of influence."
Alphonsi, who has been capped 74 times by her country, is keen to play her part in making rugby more inclusive - currently, she is the only black person sitting on the 61-strong RFU council - with women also under-represented.
"It isn't good enough that I am the only black person on the council, though I do believe there is a genuine want from the game to change things, and I want to be in there to make that happen," she told the Scrum Queens website.
"My goal is to be the president of the RFU. There has never been a woman in the role and certainly, there has never been a black person.
"That is the level I think you have to get to get people to stop and listen so that is the level you have to aim at."
