With Burnley manager Vincent Kompany reportedly in pole position to become the next Bayern Munich manager, his potential appointment could mark a revolutionary shift in European football culture, writes Lukhanyo Mtuta.
When Kompany successfully guided Burnley from the EFL Championship to the Premier League in 2023, he joined a not-so-long list of black coaches who have managed in the English top flight. Just like in many spheres of society, representation has become a growing topic in European football, particularly when it comes to managers.
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The disparity between the number of black players and black coaches in Europe's elite leagues is clear, a fact that was recently noted by the head coach of Major League Soccer outfit Columbus Crew Wilfried Nancy, a black Frenchman. "I have a simple question. Why do we have a lot of black players and we don't have black coaches?" he asked, according to African News. "There is something missing between all the black players that we have and the number of black coaches that we have."
This theory certainly holds weight as the France national team, for example, is largely dominated by black players, while there were only two black coaches in the 2023/24 Ligue 1 season, namely Patrick Vieira (Strasbourg) and Antoine Kombouare (FC Nantes). Earlier this month, Stade Reims made Samba Diawara their caretaker manager, theoretically taking the tally to three black coaches.
In LALIGA and the Bundesliga, there were no black coaches this season, and Kompany's potential appointment at Bayern would have a symbolic effect on the topic of diversity in coaching at European clubs. The German giants are unmistakeably a traditional club, and they have never had a black coach in their history in the Bundesliga, which dates back to 1965 with Zlatko Cajkovski at the wheel.
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Almost 60 years later, a huge culture shift beckons as just the mere act of approaching a black coach marks a progressive step not only for Bayern but German football as a whole. While racism on the pitch often sees fans being the culprits of despicable acts, many have argued that racism fundamentally permeates itself in club boardrooms, thus the lack of black coaches, as appointment decisions lie in the hands of those running the teams.
Kompany himself has previously spoken about having a diverse boardroom at top clubs, arguing that this would significantly advance strides being made to address the under-representation of non-white managers.
In 2023, he told The Independent UK: "You'd like to think, over time, this is going to evolve. I've always made the point clearly, and I think in this day and age it's even more important – what is the diversity in a boardroom, the levers of power? The coaching, you give the job to the best people, but I think the diversity, where it's really needed is where the power is, that's what affects everything we're doing. If you have a boardroom that's diverse, you can't brush things under the carpet. These things will get solved."
It is quite emblematic that it is the same Kompany who could now break a longstanding cycle of ethnic non-transformation at a European juggernaut like Bayern.
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As things stand, the latest reports suggest that the Belgian has already agreed to become the next Bavarians boss, but a complete agreement is yet to be reached with Burnley.
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