Why Football Keeps Failing South Asian Talent

Since the 2021-22 season, South Asian representation in professional football in England has nearly doubled, following a targeted push by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA).

Last season, 28 South Asian men were playing professionally, compared with 16 five years earlier.

Yet they still account for just over 1% of elite-level players, despite strong grassroots participation and a growing talent pool.

The numbers show progress, but they also reveal a deeper structural problem.

Interest in football within South Asian communities is not lacking.

The Football Association (FA) reports that more South Asian people across England are playing, coaching, and refereeing at all levels.

Within South Asian communities, more than 11% of adult males and over 15% of adult females now participate in football.

The question is no longer whether South Asian talent exists. It is why so few players are reaching the professional game.

Barriers Beyond Talent

For many players, the challenge is not ability but access.

Journalist and presenter Marva Kreel, who has part South Asian heritage and played youth football at Tottenham, describes a system that failed to reflect the diversity of local communities.

She told BBC Newsbeat: “It’s good more conversations are happening, but it’s something that a lot of us have been experiencing for decades.

“When I looked around, the players that were playing on the pitch didn’t represent my local area.

“They didn’t represent who I was going to school with; it was a very white space.”

Kreel highlights how logistical and social barriers limited opportunities, particularly for girls:

“You couldn’t get to training. You couldn’t get to your games in the same way that boys could and that my boy mates could, because we didn’t have coaches laid on for us.”

Beyond infrastructure, she points to deeply rooted assumptions that affect how South Asian players are perceived.

Kreel added: “A lot of this comes down to shared problems that we have in the South Asian community of how South Asian boys and how South Asian girls might be stereotyped amongst football.”

These stereotypes can influence scouting decisions, coaching expectations, and development pathways.

Combined with limited local facilities and financial pressures within some families, they create an uneven playing field long before professional contracts come into view.

Representation and Role Models

For players who do break through, visibility matters.

Malvind Singh Benning, who plays for League Two side Shrewsbury Town, recalls seeing only two South Asian heritage players during his rise through football.

He stated:

“I’m 32 now so passing on real-life experience in the professional games to these young lads will be massive.”

Now part of the PFA’s Asian Inclusion Mentoring Scheme (AIMS), Benning represents a growing effort to support young South Asian players with guidance, advocacy, and lived experience.

The lack of role models remains a key barrier, particularly in women’s football.

Wrexham’s Mariam Mahmood believes representation plays a direct role in motivation and aspiration.

She said: “When people see other people’s success stories and more publicity on people that are getting success in football, I think it will motivate other players and different people to also get involved and think: ‘Oh, if they can do it, I can do it’.

Mahmood credits her development to an inclusive academy environment but stresses that meaningful change must begin earlier in the pipeline.

She added: “The important thing is to get [South Asians] playing football, develop them until they’re 16, 17, so they can sign professional contracts and get into that pool of people.”

Her point reflects a broader consensus: without stronger grassroots pathways, the professional game will continue to draw from a limited and unrepresentative talent base.

What Football is Doing and Where It Still Falls Short

Football’s governing bodies have launched several initiatives to address under-representation, but progress has been uneven.

The Premier League introduced its South Asian Action Plan (SAPP) in 2022, focusing on increasing British South Asian representation within academy systems, particularly in the Under-9 to Under-11 age groups.

The English Football League (EFL) launched its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy, ‘Together’, while the PFA expanded its Asian Inclusion Mentoring Scheme (AIMS), which has earned praise across the game.

Dave Rainford, Head of Education and Academy Player Care at the Premier League, said:

“If we want our game to stay ahead and the Premier League to be the world’s best league and the EFL to be one of the best pyramids in world football we know we have to keep evolving our talent pool.”

However, critics argue that some initiatives lack depth and long-term accountability.

Arun Kang believes that too many programmes prioritise optics over structural reform:

“They need to collaborate better. There are some really good initiatives that take place but some are just window dressing and don’t go deep enough into the problems.

“For example, a football festival focused towards South Asian or ethnically diverse communities.

“Well, what next? Are there any pathways for individuals to then join clubs?

“I feel it’s a little bit of a tick box. ‘Look, what we did for those communities’.

“They should appreciate what we’ve just done for you and that for me is a bit window dressing and I think we need to stop doing those types of initiatives.”

Dal Darroch, Head of Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Programmes at the FA, added:

“We’ve already started to have conversations about how we bring the whole thing together and I think that will continue.

“There’s been attempts in the past. They haven’t always worked.”

“We should definitely do more of that cross-collaboration, pooling resources and operating in a way that we complement each other.”

The message from stakeholders is increasingly clear: isolated initiatives will not fix a systemic issue. Sustainable progress requires shared strategy, consistent funding, and measurable outcomes.

The rise in South Asian representation in English football reflects meaningful progress, backed by targeted strategies and growing community engagement.

Participation levels at grassroots and amateur levels show that interest, commitment, and talent are not in short supply.

Yet professional representation remains disproportionately low.

Structural barriers, persistent stereotypes, limited infrastructure, and fragmented development pathways continue to block many promising players from reaching elite football.

Change is happening, but not quickly enough to match the scale of the opportunity.

For English football to truly reflect the communities that support it, and to maximise its competitive future, investment must go beyond symbolic initiatives.

The pathway from grassroots pitches to professional contracts must become clearer, fairer, and genuinely accessible.

The talent exists. The audience exists. The ambition exists. The next challenge is ensuring the system finally catches up.