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role of clubs and players
How Can Clubs Become More Inclusive for the LGBT+ Community? Football, like no other sport, is a community endeavour, bringing people from different backgrounds together. Football clubs therefore have a responsibility to their employees, fans, and local communities—this is often referred to as ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR).
Corporate Social Responsibility
Diversity Managers
An increasing number of professional football clubs have established corporate social responsibility departments. These departments generally oversee the wellbeing of staff and the club’s engagement with non-economic stakeholders, including members, fans, and community organisations. Their work also covers democracy and participation both within and outside to the club, environmental sustainability, social policy, and charity projects. Antihomophobia, biphobia, and transphobia and LGBT+ inclusion initiatives naturally fall under the purview of corporate social responsibility departments.
Diversity managers are responsible for an organisation’s anti-discrimination work. The term equal opportunities officer is also in frequent use. While the latter is generally associated with equality between the sexes, a diversity manager is understood to be concerned more broadly with structural and individual discrimination, both within and outside the club—this encompasses LGBT+ matters. A diversity manager’s tasks can include: running a help line for club-related stakeholders; organising and implementing educational training on discrimination and exclusion mechanisms for employees and other stakeholders; and consultation on organisational and structural development (i.e. events and recruitment processes). In addition,
In this sense, CSR departments help to set agendas, define tasks for employees and stakeholders, and ensure that the club lives up to its responsibilities. They are also often in charge of devising club statutes or charters outlining the club’s values—both of these usually explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender, sex, and sexual identity. At many clubs, supporter liaison officers (SLOs), disability inclusion officers, social workers, and diversity managers sit within CSR departments.
Workshop at the OUT! network meeting on the role of clubs and players
Photo credit: FSE