MARTIN SAMUEL: Having a BAME presence like Rio Ferdinand in EVERY boardroom should be enshrined in the rules... Would Liverpool have worn those Luis Suarez T-shirts had John Barnes been in on the meeting?

Rio Ferdinand should not be at a Black Lives Matter demonstration. He should be on the board at Manchester United.

Maybe Leeds United, perhaps West Ham. Ferdinand played for them all, with distinction. He is articulate, intelligent, he has been a campaigner on social issues affecting urban communities, and he knows football. Every club should have a man like Ferdinand among its directors, because every club can find one.

Either a former player, in sadly smaller numbers a former coach or manager, or simply a local BAME figure with an affiliation for their football team.