A controversy has arisen after Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, an entrepreneur and one of Britain’s few black commercial farmers, commented on the lack of ‘diversity’ in the England’s World Cup Lioness squad. The Mail has more.
A race row has erupted after an entrepreneur claimed England’s World Cup Lioness squad “isn’t that diverse” and filled with “blonde, blue-eyed” football stars.
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, who claims to be one of Britain’s only black commercial farmers, said the squad was “not representative” of Britain.
His comments, made during a discussion of the Sunday front pages on Sky News, have received backlash online.
Some people have blasted the entrepreneur as “racist”, criticising him for not accepting that the “best players” were chosen.
“I don’t want to pour boiling water on it but it isn’t that diverse,” the farmer said, describing the front page of the Daily Mirror – which featured a host of England stars on its cover.
“It really sticks out at you. They look blonde and blue-eyed. If it was the men’s World Cup it would be very representative of the Britain that we’re in and very, very diverse.
“What jumps out at you is that this doesn’t represent diverse Britain. It’s all these blonde blue-eyed girls – and I wish them well – but I do think we need to ask ourselves questions about why it is that there is a lack of diversity.”
He continued: “If you could have the men’s team which is very very diverse, why doesn’t that translate to the women’s team?” …
The entrepreneur set up the Black Farmer Scholarship, which aims to help and encourage ethnic minorities to work in the rural community – an under-represented area. He was appointed an MBE in 2020 for his services to British farming.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: Rafe Heydel-Mankoo has pointed out on Twitter that only 4.2% of the population of England is black, while three players in the England women’s football team squad of 23 are black, which amounts to 13%.
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