Riddle of the missing Asians in UK professional football

A research centre devoted to the study of soccer is investigating one of the great anomalies of the British game - why there are no Asian players in the professional league.

"Either Asians are not interested in football and have other career opportunities, or maybe for cultural reasons the professional game has low status. Or they play other sports, or there is some kind of racism operated by clubs which excludes Asians," said John Williams, senior sociology lecturer at Leicester University.

Asian footballers and spectators in the Midlands are to be quizzed about their experiences of big clubs by the Asian Midlands Sports Forum, which has teamed up with the Sir Norman Chester Centre for Football Research at Leicester University for the project.

Mr Williams said they would explore community and institutional attitudes. Asians played football at amateur level but for some reason they were not breaking into the professional sides.

"The feeling among players is that they are not watched by professional clubs," said Mr Williams.

The project will explore whether there was a tendency for all-Asian teams or leagues which prevents players from being visited regularly by scouts from the top teams.

"As far as we can make out, there is no one from the typical British Asian community playing in the league and there has not been one in modern times," said Mr Williams.

The Sir Norman Chester Centre opened in 1987 with funds from football organisations and clubs and has studied the role of soccer in the community as well as the changing profile of spectators.