Fans criticise absence of black footballers in Arsenal Women's team

Arsenal women released their team photo for the 2023/24 per cent, and the visible absence of players of colour has set tongues wagging. 

The female Gunners are one of the best teams in the Women's Super League, finishing second in the competition last season. 

And although they have had players of other races previously, including Super Falcons Asisat Oshoala, their team photo for this season, according to the Daily Mail, did not feature a single woman of colour.  

One of the commenters said, “No professional team, mens or womens, should be able to have a team the comprises of all white players in 2023."

Another chimed in, saying, “You mean to tell me arsenals stakeholders & the execs see this and think this okay? The head coaches think this is okay? The PLAYERS look at each other think this is okay? ALL WHITE?? Please @ArsenalWFC @Arsenal there needs to be an emergency meeting & change.”

A third wrote, “Lovely picture and that but god it's so concerning that one of the biggest clubs in the world doesn't have a single POC in the squad.” A fourth, seemingly an Arsenal fan, said, “We don't have a single black woman player. That's frightening.”

Arsenal are just a small part of this diversity problem, as according to the BBC, only an estimated 10-15 percent of players called in the WSL are of black, Asian, or minority ethnicity, a significant difference from the around 33 percent in the Premier League.