Sanjay Bhandari has been appointed the new chair of Kick It Out.
The anti-discrimination body announced the news on Thursday afternoon, with Bhandari replacing the organisation's founder Lord Herman Ouseley.
"I am absolutely delighted to join the board of Kick It Out as its chair," Bhandari told the organisation's website.
"I have been a football fan all of my life and a vocal advocate for inclusion...and look forward to setting out my vision for equality in football in the months ahead."
Find out more about the background of our new Chair, Sanjay Bhandari: https://t.co/9pZ2GERvbs #KickItOut pic.twitter.com/m0A04Pzljj
— Kick It Out (@kickitout) September 12, 2019
"I have been a football fan all of my life and a vocal advocate for inclusion.
"I am passionate about helping football to be a game where people of all backgrounds feel welcome and included from the terraces to the pitch, to the boardroom.
"I feel honoured to have the opportunity to build on the team's great work over many years, and look forward to setting out my vision for equality in football in the months ahead."
Bhandari has been a member of the Premier League's Equality Standard Independent Panel for four years and is also part of the Government-sponsored Parker review into the ethnic diversity of UK boards.
I am very excited and honoured to be taking up this role. I look forward to working with our great team @kickitout and our supporters across the game I love. https://t.co/zYZQL5IIM2 — Sanjay Bhandari (@SanjayB_689908) September 12, 2019
Kick It Out's chief executive officer Roisin Wood believes he will be a good fit, saying: "Sanjay's passion for equality, together with his governance experience and love for football, stands him out as the ideal person to continue to take Kick It Out forward.
"As a lifelong football fan he understands the power of football to effect change and influence society – and is fully committed to tackling all forms of discrimination, from grassroots all the way through to the professional level.
"Football still has a long way to go but working together, under Sanjay's leadership, I believe we are ready to take on any challenge."
