Sai Sachdev is one of 22 players from a South Asian background to have played professional men’s football in the 2022‑23 season among an overall playing list of about 4,000. His story is remarkable because he was recruited by Sheffield United from grassroots football at 15, having been let go by Leicester when he was younger.

Sachdev has made two appearances for the club this season, although unfortunately he is now out with a broken leg sustained in September. But the 19-year-old right-back has shown enough promise to represent England at age-group level and earn rave reviews from United’s manager, Chris Wilder.

Sachdev’s story proves two things: British South Asian talent is out there and is determined to break through even when the odds are stacked against it.

It is worth bearing this in mind after the Football Association launched its South Asian plan “Build, Connect, Support” to tackle some of the challenges that remain.

The aim of the plan is to make South Asian players feel more welcome in the grassroots game, after new research highlighted the “overt racism” that still exists and how faith-based practices and dress are still not accommodated. It’s a solid foundation, but there is so much more work to be done to help South Asians to feel fully included in football. At Kick It Out last season we received 50 reports of racism directed at South Asians across the grassroots game (21 reports), professional game (12) and online (17).

The FA’s plan showed that the number of South Asian players in the grassroots game in England is healthy, and improving. Adults from South Asian backgrounds make up 11.1% of men and 15.4% of women playing all types of football. For five- to 15-year-olds it’s 8% of boys and 7.4% of girls. For context, the South Asian population of England and Wales is 7%.

Other than in regard to adult women, those numbers drop when it comes to playing for clubs in leagues registered with the FA – in what is referred to as affiliated football – which highlights the challenge of bridging the gap between the grassroots game and elite level.

Research has shown that professional clubs often rely on more traditional scouting and talent identification practices which recruit from established leagues and may not delve deep into areas where the South Asian community is playing.

There are also challenges for the South Asian community based on outdated stereotypes such as career choices, a preference for cricket, their build or even diet.

Previous research has debunked these myths and a recent YouGov survey commissioned by Kick It Out has shown that a higher percentage of the South Asian community follows football compared with the national average. It also showed that younger generations are more likely than ever to choose football over cricket.

The Premier League tried to address this in its 2022 South Asian Action Plan, and the latest data from the Professional Footballers’ Association, from the same year, indicated that the majority of professional clubs had at least one South Asian player in their academy.

But South Asian boys represent only 0.91% of players at the development phase (under-16) and 1.45% at the scholar phase (16+). Only 0.46% attain professional contracts.

Although South Asian representation in the elite game is increasing, at the current rate it would take decades before playing levels at grassroots are replicated there. Many of us in South Asian communities have been talking about this for decades and are frustrated at the prospect of waiting many more decades for meaningful change.

If the chief executive of a public limited company discovered that a substantial percentage of people actively interested in its product were in effect being ignored, they would ask questions. So should club chief executives. The heart of the challenge is at entry level in academies. It’s simple maths. If not enough South Asian players are going into the talent pipeline at the start, not enough will come out as professionals. Players aged six to nine have been a particular focus of the Premier League’s South Asian elite development strategy, working with pioneer academies. We would encourage doubling down on that investment.

Academies have traditionally been projected as meritocracies where highly skilled coaching judgment identifies the best talent. But if the likelihood of making it as a professional from entry level is 0.5%, why are South Asian players, who make up about 8% of the playing pool, being ignored?

Even if academy players don’t make it to the top, many are offered life skills that will help them to flourish on the pitch or elsewhere. We should celebrate academies for that. But why deny access to that life skills development to so many members of the South Asian playing community?

There needs to be further research to challenge some of the recruitment practices or potential biases that may exclude the South Asian community. And we have argued before that clubs should seriously consider targets at academy entry level to shift the dial. More robust, consistent and transparent data would help in monitoring progress and we look forward to seeing new workforce diversity figures in June when the FA will make it mandatory for clubs to report them.

Once there are more players in the system and better learning opportunities are being passed on to friends and siblings, there will hopefully be a time when targets are not needed, especially if more South Asian professionals can inspire the next generation.

There are many impressive professional players such as Zidane Iqbal, the Manchester-born midfielder who is with Utrecht after leaving Manchester United, Safia Middleton-Patel, the Manchester United and Wales goalkeeper, and Sachdev who could help to turn the trickle of talent from South Asian communities into a torrent. That would not only have benefits to young players in England but potentially build huge commercial value for its clubs throughout the South Asian subcontinent.

Sanjay Bhandari is the chair of Kick It Out.

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