Greg Clarke Resigns as FA Chairman After ‘Unacceptable’ Racist Comments

Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press

England Football Association chairman Greg Clarke resigned Tuesday after making offensive, sexist and racist remarks about gay, female and Black players, as well as South Asian and Black FA employees.

“We can confirm that Greg Clarke has stepped down from the role as FA chairman,” the FA said in a statement. “Peter McCormick will step into the role as interim FA chairman with immediate effect and the FA Board will begin the process of identifying and appointing a new chair in due course.”

BBC Sport reported Clarke used the phrase “coloured footballers” during a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee meeting. He also referred to gay players making a “life choice” and suggested female players didn’t like it when a ball was kicked hard toward them. Clarke also said that there were more South Asian than Afro Caribbean employees in the FA’s IT department because “they have different career interests.”

“My unacceptable words in front of Parliament were a disservice to our game and to those who watch, play, referee and administer it. This has crystallized my resolve to move on,” Clarke said. “I am deeply saddened that I have offended those diverse communities in football that I and others worked so hard to include.”

ESPN’s James Olley reported several FA employees were “shocked” after hearing the comments by Clarke, who’s also served as a FIFA vice president since 2019, and the 63-year-old Leicester native failed to earn support from members of the FA board in conversations following his DCMS appearance.

He’s also expected to step down from his role with FIFA, per Olley.

“I am just surprised that the chair of any organization who’s got a feel of what’s going on in the year 2020 could use those types of words, that sort of language,” former FA chairman David Bernstein told BBC Sport. “It’s just inappropriate.”

DCMS chairman Alex Davies-Jones added: “The language used by Greg Clarke in our meeting this morning was absolutely abhorrent. It speaks volumes about the urgent progress that needs to be made in terms of leadership on equalities issues in sport. I can’t believe we’re still here in 2020.”

Clarke previously served as chairman of his hometown club, Leicester City, from 1999 through 2002 and took over as FA chairman in September 2016.

In October 2017, he received widespread criticism for describing allegations of institutional racism within English football as “fluff” and admitted the FA had “lost the trust” of the public and the football community in terms of handling discrimination claims.

“It was a terrible word to use and I deeply regret it,” Clarke said at the time.