People

Tackling racism in sport in Scotland

Partnership demonstrates the commitment to tackling racism across the sports sector.

We announced our partnership with UK-wide race discrimination charity Sporting Equals, earlier this year and we have been working together on systemic change to improve race inclusion in sport. This partnership demonstrates the commitment we have to tackling racism across the sports sector.

With their primary focus on race inclusion and community cohesion, Sporting Equals was established in 1998 as part of the Commission for Race Equality before becoming an independent charity in 2007. Working with governing bodies, government, and corporate partners through a network of Charter Members and Associate Members, Sporting Equals has delivered a number of significant projects in recent years and will use their expertise to support the sportscotland team to deliver in a number of areas:

The Policy Review involves working with seven Scottish Governing Bodies (SGB) to complete an audit of all policies and procedures to help them to become more inclusive. Following this initial group, the audit will be extended to all SGBs and a summary of recommendations will be published to improve understanding and inform better practice.

The Race Representation Index analyses work force data for senior leadership in governing bodies. It charts their progress and makes recommendations on how to be more inclusive. The index looks at the leadership groups that most impact change in sport; board, senior management team, employed coaches, employed players and officials. By looking at these groups in detail each sport can understand how they are, or are not, making progress in reflecting the population.

Sporting Equals with support from sportscotland will also be developing panels to inform future interventions as part of their Research and Insight into diverse race and ethnic communities.

The Race Discrimination Support Service provides support for victims of racial discrimination in sport. The service triages cases then recommends how to proceed which may include mediation, legal action or otherwise. This protects victims from taking risks and provides a resilient framework for progress.

LeaderBoard Academy aims to plug the gaps in senior leadership diversity by training ethnically diverse people in how to influence change at board level. We will be working with partners and communities to identify people across Scotland who may be interested in getting involved in the 2024 LeaderBoard Academy.

Terminology Resource is a key element in understanding the language around racism as poor language choices can exclude ethnically diverse people, whether intentionally or unintentionally. This resource empowers people and explains why language choices matter.

Forbes Dunlop, sportscotland’s CEO commented on the programme of work with Sporting Equals: “In order to tackle race inequality and champion anti-racism behaviour in Scottish sport, we must support partners to build a strong foundation of policies and practice. By working with SGBs on policy reviews and using this information to inform the other key stages, we will ensure that inclusion is at the heart of policy-making across the sector.”

Driving change with stakeholders

Working with Sporting Equals, we are aiming to extend our network of partners who are engaged in this conversation and are committed to making transformational change in sport in Scotland. The Sporting Equals approach involves grouping partners into one of four categories, to deliver change:

Charter Members are Scottish Governing Bodies who manage the operation of sport on a national scale. It can also include professional sports clubs and some leisure centre operators.
Associate Members are community clubs and societies such as sports clubs or faith centres where sport and physical activity are supported.

The partnership strengthens sportscotland’s commitment to ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion in sport and physical activity across the Scottish sporting system.