Football's black referees are being shut out of the game despite the sport’s claim to be addressing racism.
No black or Asian referee has taken charge of a Premier League game since 2008 when Sheffield official Uriah Rennie took charge of his final game in the top flight.
Now football’s black officials are speaking out in the hope that change will finally come.
Ian Stewart, who has refereed in countries such as Portugal, France and Norway, took up his whistle ten years ago after he gave up playing semi-professional football.
“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it,” he said. “So I want to be able to provide an inspiration for some of the younger referees coming through and some of the older ones who might be losing their motivation to carry on against the odds.
“What we need is transparency so that people can get the full picture and understand just how bad the picture is.”
Recent statistics have revealed that out of 200 referees across the country’s top seven divisions, just a handful are Black or Asian.
There are concerns within the Black refereeing fraternity that there is too little diversity among the FA’s Observers, individuals tasked with assessing referees for promotion to the higher leagues
One Black referee, who asked not to be named, claimed to have been told by one observer: "You lot can all run fast, but that’s all you are good for.”
The FA said observations on referees are made on performance only, and any allegation of discrimination by observers "would be taken extremely seriously".
They also would encourage anybody who believes they have been subject to, or witness of, an act of discrimination, to report it to The FA or their partners at Kick It Out so it can be investigated.
Other Black officials believe the shocking statistics on diversity mirror the lack of diversity at the top of the Football Association with an absence of black men on the governing body’s board.
Efforts will be made to address the representation within refereeing when the Premier League launch their new development scheme to help improve the standard of officiating in English football.
Their ‘Elite Referee Development Plan’ will try to put in place a new standard to be more reflective of the competitors on the pitch as around a third of the game’s players are Black.
The FA has also set a target of 2024 to “grow the pipeline of a high-performing refereeing workforce across both grassroots and elite football, which is representative of females, Black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic groups and disabled people.”
An FA spokesman said: "We remain committed to ensuring the diversity of those playing, coaching, officiating and leading English football is truly reflective of our modern society.
"As part of this, within the 2018-2021 National Game Strategy we set inclusion targets across the game for the first time.
"The most recent data available highlighted that almost 2,000 (9.4%) of currently registered referees in England are not from white British backgrounds.
"However, as part of our commitment to increasing diversity across all levels of our game, we are currently undergoing a thorough data capture to ensure we have an accurate reflection of the diversity of participants, including match officials.
“We recently launched A Game For All , our new equality, diversity and inclusion strategy which outlines our plans to deliver a game free from discrimination and drive equality across the game. This includes ensuring that underrepresented groups have access to opportunities to enjoy the game and that our refereeing talent pipelines are diverse.
"We have identified that by 2024, we want to grow the pipeline of a high-performing refereeing workforce across both grassroots and elite football, which is representative of females, Black, Asian, Mixed or other ethnic groups and disabled people.
"We are wholly committed to the recruitment, retention, support and development of referees from all backgrounds, regardless of location and whether they wish to progress through the pyramid or remain active at lower levels where they make a crucial contribution to our game."
'We need to see more active black FA members to bring about change' by Tyler & Mohamed
Football is at the heart of sport and has accumulated millions of fans all over the world.
But sadly there has also been a negative impact as well as positive.
Racist insults towards players are still a primary concern.
But the lack of diversity within the organisations that police football and run it is as much a problem, if not more.
Ian Stewart’s mantra - “If you can see it, you can be it” - should resonate with all of us reading.
The clear dominance of white FA members is transparently reflective on the lack of diversity in the refereeing world.
We need to see more active black members in higher positions in the footballing industry to encourage change and equality.
