Asad Farooq, a 25-year-old British Asian man, is taking legal action against Liverpool Football Club, alleging racial discrimination due to his job application being turned down in favor of a less experienced candidate. Despite his qualifications in stadium and event management, including work with Tottenham Hotspur and the Qatar World Cup, Farooq was denied an interview for an administrative position at Liverpool, despite believing his background matched the advertised requirements.
He received a message stating his experience wasn’t as strong as those selected for interviews. Noticing the appointee lacked football experience and had minimal post-graduation employment, Farooq sought legal counsel from Yunus Lunat, a lawyer associated with football governance.
Expressing frustration as a Liverpool supporter, Farooq feels overlooked as a South Asian, despite his qualifications, citing the contradiction between the club’s diversity claims and their recruitment practices. He has requested the club’s diversity statistics, which they have declined to provide.
Liverpool’s public diversity figures, available in the FA’s 2022-23 Football Leadership Diversity Code report, show disparities in hiring compared to their stated goals for representation. Despite the club’s claims to champion equality, diversity, and inclusion, they have yet to comment on Farooq’s case or release their diversity data to the media. The case is expected to undergo an employment tribunal hearing in March.
Yunus Lunat revealed that Liverpool offered a different reason for rejecting Farooq’s application—attributing it to salary demands. Moreover, it surfaced that the person selected for the role Farooq applied for was temporary and later replaced within the club.