Emile Heskey has expressed his desire to replace Greg Clarke as chairman of the FA following the latter’s resignation on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Clarke resigned from the role with immediate effect after using offensive language when talking about black footballers during a video call with Parliament.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the inews<\/a>,\u00a0Heskey stated: “You have to take that leap sometimes.<\/p>\n “I know within football I’m probably just as respected as anyone else. But you’d have different people within there who would stake a claim as well.”<\/p>\n The former Liverpool<\/a> and Leicester City<\/a> striker, who made 62 appearances for England, believes that the appointment of a black FA chairman would benefit English football.<\/p>\n He continued: “It would be powerful. It would send messages. It’s been called for, for a long time.<\/p>\n “I would be very surprised if it was a black person. I’d be very surprised if it was anyone within football right now.<\/p>\n “I think there’s a network of people they tap into that doesn’t have anything to do with football and they’ll try to bring someone from there”.<\/p>\n Heskey’s comments come after Clarke was forced to resign<\/a> from the role following comments at a hearing for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport where he referred to “high-profile coloured footballers”,<\/a> as well as claiming that gay players made a ‘life choice.’<\/p>\n Clarke also stated there were “a lot more South Asians than there are Afro-Caribbeans” in the IT department of the FA because “they have different career interests.”<\/p>\n According to Darren Lewis of the Daily Mirror<\/a>, Baroness Sue Campbell and Paul Elliot are the leading candidates to replace the departing Clarke.<\/p>\n Elliot would become the first former professional player to have the head role at the FA. He has recently led some of the FA’s campaigns to promote diversity.<\/p>\n Main PhotoWho Else is in Contention for the Role?<\/h3>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>