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A Sky News panellist sparked a race row over the weekend after claiming England’s World Cup squad ‘isn’t that diverse’ and is filled with ‘blonde, blue-eyed’ players.
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, who set up the Black Farmer Scholarship and claims to be one of Britain’s only black commercial farmers, insisted the Lioness squad isn’t ‘representative’ of the country as a whole.
Pointing to a newspaper front page on the eve of England’s World Cup final – which ended in heartbreak as Spain triumphed 1-0 – he said: ‘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 insisted the men’s team would be a different picture and be more representative of the nation.
He added: ‘I don’t want to pour boiling water on it but it isn’t that diverse. 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.’
While the conversation on air was very measured and calm, Wilfred’s comments have sparked a fierce backlash on Twitter/X, with some people taking issue with his stance.
One person argued: ‘It’s disappointing but predictable to see comments like this about the Women’s England team…
‘Could it not be possible that the best have been chosen? Other countries have football teams with similar levels of diversity but aren’t criticised for it.’
‘Oh god! Please! Teams are based on talent not colour,’ a second viewer added, while a third wrote: ‘What a ridiculous statement. Only those with talent are selected. Perhaps others ought to encourage their daughters to play, join a team, progress and get selected on merit.’
Wilfred was awarded an MBE in 2020 for services to British farming, and his scholarship aims to help and encourage ethnic minorities to take up work in the rural community.
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