Liverpool denies race claim in job dispute tribunal

Asad Farooq said he had suffered anxiety attacks after believing he was discriminated against

Liverpool FC has denied claims of racial discrimination after it rejected a man's job application for a "high-pressure" operational role supporting the day-to-day affairs of the football team.

Asad Farooq applied for a role as first team operations officer at the Premier League high-fliers in November 2022 but was not selected for interview.

He sued the club and has taken his case to an employment tribunal, claiming he was better qualified than the successful candidate, Zac Foley, and had suffered discrimination due to his south Asian heritage.

The club, however, has argued there was "no hint" of discrimination and said Mr Farooq's application was "sifted out" solely due to his salary expectations and lack of suitable experience.

Giving evidence at the hearing in Liverpool, Mr Farooq agreed he had no "operational football experience", but argued he had "transferable skills" from roles including overseeing a catering operation at the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

He said he had also held a part-time job for the Football Association during his university days, helping schedule travel arrangements for youth matches during tournaments, and also worked at Tottenham Hotspur answering phone calls and emails relating to ticketing queries.

The tribunal heard Mr Farooq had no experience of managing the day-to-day affairs of an elite team

The tribunal heard Mr Foley had previously worked as an international academy lead coach for Liverpool, and was working as a football operations manager in the academy at Blackburn Rovers when he applied to re-join the club.

The tribunal heard Mr Farooq had admitted in emails to the club that Mr Foley had "substantial experience" for the role, a position he said he still agreed with.

He said he began asking questions about the hiring process in May 2023 when he saw a post on Linked In from a temporary staff member at Liverpool called Anna Garnett, which suggested she had been appointed despite having limited experience.

However, Liverpool explained that Ms Garnett had simply been drafted in to cover "administrative tasks" for a few weeks to ease the work-load because Mr Foley could not start immediately.

The club said she had never applied for the full-time job and was asked to amend her Linked In post after the club received a HR complaint from Mr Farooq.

Mr Farooq claimed in his witness statement that he had suffered from "anxiety attacks" after concluding he had suffered discrimination due to his heritage.

"The rejection started to take a significant toll on my mental health," he said.

'Common sense'

The tribunal heard the club did an initial "sift" through 444 applications and rejected candidates who asked for more than 10% over the agreed annual salary of £31,500 - with Mr Farooq setting his expectations at £35,000.

Anisa Niaz-Dickinson, representing the club, referred to a list of other candidates who had initially been rejected for the same reason, including a number who were White British.

Ms Niaz-Dickinson, cross-examining Mr Farooq, suggested it was "common sense" that there was "no hint" of racial discrimination playing a role.

The tribunal heard that after this point Mr Farooq's application had been considered a second time, alongside all other applicants including Mr Foley, after a first-choice candidate rejected the job offer.

However, the hiring manager, Louise Dobson, rejected it again because Mr Farooq's lack of experience meant his application had "no chance from the outset".

The tribunal continues.