Kick It Out has told Sky Sports News it has serious concerns that victims of discrimination at Coventry City may have been neglected after the club’s safety officer was convicted for using a racial slur.
Nicola Pollard, 51, from Radford in Coventry, was found guilty on Tuesday of a racially motivated public order offence, and ordered to pay a £345 fine, and more than £500 in court costs.
Pollard, who has worked at Coventry for 24 years, the last six years as safety officer, racially abused a steward.
“The safety officers in the vast majority of clubs are the custodians of the Equality, Diversion and Inclusion issues,” chief executive of Kick It Out Tony Burnett told Sky Sports News.
“Any complaints related to diversity and inclusion will go to the safety officer. To be fair to the EFL, they have done a huge amount of work in this area to educate safety officers for this very reason.
“My concern, in this case, would be if we have a safety officer who holds such deeply held biases, then how seriously has this individual been dealing with cases of discrimination within Coventry City Football Club?
“That for me is the bigger question – are there victims in Coventry City that aren’t getting the support they need because the person tasked with delivering that support is not fit for purpose?”
