2024 Shortlisted Nominee
Positive Role Model Award: Race, Religion & Faith
Raj Randhawa is the Refereeing Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Delivery Manager at The Football Association (The FA). He leads the National Referee Strategy to enhance EDI within refereeing for Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage backgrounds. Raj tackles the challenge of recruiting and retaining historically disenfranchised referees, building relationships nationwide to promote refereeing positively. His efforts have already resulted in 510 from diverse backgrounds accessing referee course bursaries. Raj in one season has already surpassed targets set within the National FA Refereeing Strategy. A total of 3,537 are now registered referees belonging to Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage populations, which was an increase from 1,800 (increasing the representation to 9.4%). He also serves on the Executive Board of Notts County Foundation, championing equality and diversity. Raj’s career is dedicated to leveraging football to drive social change in the industry.