Michael Emenalo was the brain behind Chelsea’s operations from 2009 – 2017 with the 55-year-old Nigerian admitting that he was heavily stereotyped and doubted in his job following lack of diversity in English football, feels the narrative must change, and that white is’always seen as good’ as he opens up on the prejudice and hardship he faced while steering the ship of one of the world’s biggest football clubs.
After originally joining the Blues as chief scout, Emenalo progressed through the ranks to take a seat at the top table, overseeing Chelsea’s crucial matters and developing the club’s youth system which can be seen bearing fruit today.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, while documenting for the first time the extent of some of the discrimination he faced, Emenalo admits it was incredibly difficult holding such a high position yet wanting to speak out more on race related issues, with an expectance placed on him to become something of an activist.
“Some people said: “Why did this Russian owner, who knows thousands and thousands of people, confide in him? He’s African so he must have killed somebody for the owner.’” No one stopped to think it could possibly be because of my intellect or experience,’ Emenalo said.
“When I was appointed [as technical director] some journalists didn’t think I spoke English. They said I had never played the game, everybody had a misconception of my knowledge, insight and experience. I did it 10 times with 10 managers,’ said Emenalo.
“Each time I climbed the hill and convinced them of my worth. I have a university degree in international relations and diplomacy. I know how to deal with people and with situations. I had World Cup experience and been part of this industry on five continents,”he outlined.
“I said: I’ll give them an opportunity to understand me.” They all did but it’s not easy starting from ground zero every time, there’s always someone saying a white guy can do it better. People need to do the right thing.”
This, of course, was far from true. Emenalo won 14 caps for Nigeria and marked Diego Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta in the 1994 World Cup. He was named as one of the side’s stand-out performers at the tournament.
Emenalo was present in Munich when Chelsea finally achieved their dream in 2012, beating Bayern in the Champions League final upon their own turf.
He departed Chelsea in November 2017, after becoming exhausted in his role and decided to take a break. Having left Monaco following a difficult spell in which the club dropped to the bottom of Ligue 1, Emenalo is hopeful of a Premier League return in the near future. He does, however, feels attitudes on race desperately have to change soon.
