Absolute ridiculous! PC gone mad and the absolute example of positive discrimination. I don't mind if the board is made up of 11 woman or 11 men .....I just want the best 11 PEOPLE for the job!
It is utter stupidity. Appointing three token women for no reason other than they were born with a vagina. That, in my opinion, is no different to giving jobs to your mates just because of their name.
You're right, it is completely wrong to discriminate in any way. Even if the intention of positive discrimination is modernisation it is still wrong and will only undermine the position of the women appointed - everyone will always question why they are really in the role. Let's face it though, they can't do a worse job than the idiots currently running the game.
I understand where everyone is coming from, course I do, but I do think that the issue has to be forced for the simple fact that otherwise no woman would ever stand a chance. It simply cannot be the case that women are not able to be good enough to do the job so there must be a reason why women don't get appointed to it. Perhaps no women apply because they feel they would be overlooked (even if better qualified). Perhaps they actually aren't good enough now because they have never been given the same opportunities. Were the starting levels the same then of course it should be the best person for the job but a woman would never be considered the best person at the moment without a change being made, which is kind of strange if you think about it. Before anyone says that I'm only of this opinion because I'm a woman then I'd like to point out that I have been on the reverse end of this with males being favoured for teaching which I also agreed with.
Doesn't that mean that the problem is the sexist people at the top of the fa making the decisions? And if so doesn't that also mean that the solution is to remove them from their positions rather than to keep sexists in power but put weaker candidates on the board simply to satisfy a quota that is only in place due to the sexists who remain?
That may address the first 'perhaps' (that women may be put off applying) but only if there was an announcement that all sexist people have been removed which doesn't seem likely or believeable. It doesn't solve the problem of women never being encouraged or trained from a young age to go into that profession so now being being potentially less skilled. As I said, from a level starting field the job should be given on merit but that being possible (women being as skilled right now as men) isn't really an option due to sexism (whether overtly or subconciously) in the past. By forcing the issue, more women will be encouraged and offered chances to get the skills they need and the women who already have them will be able to actually use them. In time, there will not need to be a set quota as both men and women will naturally be considered equally and people will wonder they this was ever needed. That's the end goal, unfortunately to get there we have to do stuff like this.
There's some good research out there on unconscious bias theory. I'd say it's pretty rife in football (as well as many other walks of life) it also makes the possibility of incremental reform and change unlikely. http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/crcl/vol40_2/lee.pdf
PC is madness, it's cultural Marxism and it has spread throughout the Western world like cancer. You've now got a supposed Conservative government telling firms to hire people based on race.
Of course why stop at saying women must be on the board, we also need Black people, disabled people Lesbian/Gay/Transgender people represented on the board as well http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39188003 Maybe we also ought to be requesting a racist a feminist a radical Christian and a radical Muslim a Jew and any others who might be feeling left out. I'm with KyoteTyke - we need the right people not token quotas
Personally, I'm not in favour of discrimination on grounds of race, sex religion etc, but I think that Jamdrop is right that in the case of the FA it's been run by old white male duffers for it's entire history and is thoroughly steeped in sexism and racism - and will NEVER reform itself. In light of that it seems to me that some outside influence must be brought to bear, in this case the Government, to force the issue. Let's face it, the old white male duffers have done a crap job for over a 100 years, so it's got to be a step in the right direction.
Seeing as the role of the FA is to oversee football in England, then I am surprised that there isn't already female representation for the women's game. It might not be as financially important as the men's game, but it is also important and requires proper representation.
Im all for it. Guaranteed lashings of tea, homemade carrot cake, fresh buttered scones with a lively homemade fruit preserve at every board meeting at least now. Whats not to like?
Alot of the "recuitment" to these positions has, in the past, been done in circles where women are not in attendance , or not welcome - old boys network, Sportsmens Dinners, Golf Clubs, Business luncheons. Jobs for those in the know. Double that up with the bias that "Women know nothing about football" which has until the last 20 years dominated football, then it's pretty obvious why no woman has put their hand up. I don't generally agree in "Token quotas", and I do agree that the best person for the job should be selected regardless of gender, but I'd say that there have been women in the worforce with superior skills to those on the FA committees. They just haven't ever had a chance, in fact it has been historically discouraged.
The main qualification for any job appointment is that the person can 'do the job.' If there are three women who can meet the job requirements there is no reason why they shouldn't be appointed.
Interesting. A closed shop for white old men, routinely refusing to reform. Finally forced to do it as a last resort, and suddenly it's pc gone mad. Why aren't people getting upset at over a century of refusal to employing a woman? PS Happy International Women's Day
Head of state has been a woman for 64 years, PM is a woman, Home Secretary a woman, two highest police chiefs women, almost all TV programmes made for women, don't really think there is a problem with sexism in this country.
Given the performance of the female PMs and Home Secretaries, that is not a good advertisement for giving women any important roles...
3 out of 10 members being women seems reasonable to me. The FA should be promoting the women's games, so they should have some representation.