Kick It Out raises serious concerns after Coventry City safety officer convicted for racism
Coventry say no victims of discrimination have been let down after their safety officer was found guilty of a racially motivated public order offence and ordered to pay a £345 fine, plus £500 in court costs; Kick It Out boss Tony Burnett has questioned the lenient sentencing
Wednesday 9 February 2022 15:53, UK
Kick It Out has told Sky Sports News it has serious concerns that victims of discrimination at Coventry City may have been neglected, following the conviction of the club’s safety officer for a racist slur aimed at a club steward.
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, was convicted for a racist slur aimed at a club 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?"
Coventry insist no victims of discrimination have been let down
Pollard was suspended from her role after the incident at Coventry's match against Middlesbrough last March, and is currently the subject of an internal HR investigation.
Coventry have told Sky Sports News no victims of discrimination have been let down on their watch.
"Coventry City is unable to comment on specifics of this case," a statement read.
"We would like to make clear that we have a clear reporting structure for Equality, Diversion and Inclusion issues on matchdays and non-matchdays, and a Safeguarding team at the Club involving various departments.
"Any issues have been dealt with quickly and robustly, including most recently at our home game against Stoke City two weeks ago.
"We are always supportive of the work of Kick It Out and their aims, and would welcome the opportunity to speak directly with Mr Burnett."
Burnett questions 'lenient' sentence for safety officer
Kick it Out are also concerned that the sentence handed down to Pollard was unduly lenient.
"The word that was used is one of the strongest and most offensive terms that you can use when it comes to particularly people from Black backgrounds," Burnett added.
"So I would love to understand the circumstances of why this sentence was imposed in the way it was, compared to others.
"On the face of it, it seems lenient. I'm conscious that it's difficult for the police and the CPS who have to judge a case on its individual merits, and a big part of the judgement is the victim impact assessment, and I don't know what was said.
"What I do know is that there were other people present when this comment was made, and I do question what impact has been taken into account on those by-standers who heard the comment, some of whom might have been Black or Asian, some might have been white colleagues, but the impact could have been serious on them."
Kick It Out working to get clarity on inconsistent sentencing
Burnett adds that Kick it Out is currently working with senior figures in the criminal justice system to try to get greater transparency and consistency in sentencing.
"As part of the Online Harms Working Group we've been working with the CPS and the police to try to get some clarity on how sentences are delivered," Burnett said.
"Working with our partners over the next few months we are hoping to get some communication out around that, so that victims really understand the decisions around sentencing so that we can get some clarity around it."
Hate won't win
Sky Sports is committed to making skysports.com and our channels on social media platforms a place for comment and debate that is free of abuse, hate and profanity.
For more information, please visit: www.skysports.com/againstonlinehate
If you see a reply to Sky Sports posts and/or content with an expression of hate on the basis of race, sex, colour, gender, nationality, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexuality, age or class, please copy the URL to the hateful post and screengrab it and email us here.
Kick It Out reporting racism
Online Reporting Form | Kick It Out
Kick It Out is football's equality and inclusion organisation - working throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and campaign for positive change.
