Asad Farooq has filed a suit against Liverpool Football Club alleging they rejected his job application in favour of someone less qualified, according to research done by The Guardian newspaper. His claim has been supported by further studies done.
He has extensive experience working across Pakistan and Malawi on land rights, ecologies and occupation struggles related to land. His focus lies on anticolonialism in legal thought, practice and pedagogy.
History
Asad Farooq has worked extensively on issues of land, water and ecologies in Pakistan and Malawi. He aims to broaden ways of discussing worlds through writing workshops for community collectives; community archives websites; as well as varied artistic forms such as poetry. His foundational interest lies with anticolonial thought and practice – this has led him to work closely with communities such as the Siraiki Waseeb; Adivasi fisher communities along the Indus; as well as land occupation struggles in Malawi.
After Umesh Pal was shot dead by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP STF) in Prayagraj, Asad and Gulam were seen by police escorting a truck in Kanpur and were chased down and shot by them as suspected carriers of sophisticated foreign-made weapons; these two had been under surveillance by UP STF for one and half months.
Managers
Following their league title loss to Manchester United, Liverpool began searching for a new manager. Rafa Benitez was at the top of their list; however, their new owners wanted someone with more proven credentials who could command respect among his squad members.
They initially met with Alan Curbishley and Gordon Strachan but were left disillusioned. Additionally, they met with John Toshack – who had finished as the runner-up the previous season and led Valencia to two La Liga titles during his time there – whom they ultimately rejected as candidates for manager.
Brendan Rodgers had led Swansea City to the Premier League title. Rodgers was seen as someone who could help revive the fortunes of the club on the pitch and bring in new talent from across English football.
Liverpool Football Club Players
Liverpool Football Club was established in 1892. Since then, they have won 19 domestic league titles, eight FA Cups, three UEFA Cups, and four UEFA Super Cups. Anfield Stadium is widely considered one of the greatest stadiums worldwide with seating capacity for 55,000 spectators; their longstanding rivalries include Manchester United and Everton as well as managers such as Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, and Joe Fagan.
Farooq demonstrates a profound commitment to anticolonial thought and practice through his teaching and research, engaging with communities like Pakistan’s Siraiki Waseeb, Punjab adivasi communities in Malawi and community collaborative writings/archival websites. His work intersects with property rights issues, anthropology, lawmaking theory/practice as well as ecological thinking/practice.
Liverpool FC’s dedication to diversity has been recognized by the Premier League, but they have fallen short in meeting targets for hiring people of black, Asian and mixed heritage in senior leadership and team operations roles – as well as disclosing diversity data to the League.
Stadium
Liverpool FC is well-known worldwide for their home stadium Anfield where fans gather in large numbers to chant and support their team. There are fan clubs all across 50+ countries, and over six European Cup/Champions League trophies and 19 English top-division league titles have been won over time by Liverpool.
Liverpool enjoyed a remarkable run during the 1970s under manager Bob Paisley. In just his first year he won three trebles and played an instrumental part in Match of the Day adopting its color format.
Unfortunately, Liverpool FC’s history is marred by two devastating catastrophes – the Heysel stadium disaster, when fans escaping a European Cup final against Juventus were crushed against an collapsing wall during a European Cup final against Heysel stadium and were killed as it collapsed – killing 39 – and Hillsborough tragedy, when 96 Liverpool supporters died when crushed against perimeter fencing during an incident at Hillsborough stadium in 1989.
Supporters
Liverpool FC boasts an immense fan base of over one million in and around Merseyside alone and approximately 1.4 million worldwide who consider themselves fans.
Fans have the legal right to privacy, and a club should not violate that right. Furthermore, clubs have an obligation to ensure fans’ health and safety; including protecting them against alcohol consumption, drug use or gambling-related effects.
The club owners may talk ethics, yet have made several egregious errors in judgement. For example, they attempted to use the government furlough scheme during a pandemic outbreak; furthermore they have been widely criticized for selling players to repressive regimes; furthermore the club participates in Right to Play programs which help overcome poverty while building resilience among children.