Kick It Out chairman Herman Ouseley has hit out at the "shambolic" Football Association as he believes black and minority ethnic people are only treated fairly on the pitch.

The FA were forced to apologise to England women's players Eniola Aluko and Drew Spence last week after facing a committee from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport that found evidence of former manager Mark Sampson making remarks that were "discriminatory on the grounds of race".

Chairman Greg Clarke, who was criticised for referring to claims of institutional racism as "fluff", apologised again on Thursday on behalf of the FA.

But Ouseley says that the committee, while siding with Aluko and Spence, also unearthed cause for concern in the lack of black and minority ethnic people involved throughout the organisation.

"I welcome the statement of apology, contrition and a call to action made by Greg Clarke, chairman of The Football Association, at The FA Council meeting today," he said in a statement.

"At Kick It Out, we acknowledge the good work done by The FA and we recognise that it is not an easy job to manage a large and complex organisation.

"However, The FA must reflect on the dilemma it now faces as a result of last week's shambolic exposure of its leadership, competence and discriminatory treatment of black and minority ethnic people in front of the DCMS Parliamentary Select Committee.

"When you look at the recent success of England's youth sides, particularly the achievements of the Under-17s men's team, you will see a high level of diverse representation on the field. That is the only area in which English football seems to treat black and minority ethnic people fairly.

"Across the rest of the game, it is clear that black and minority ethnic people are not trusted to be in the boardroom, senior management, leadership, coaching, technical and administration positions – and this is not a new realisation."

Ouseley added: "It is inconceivable that the people who botched the first investigation are still in their posts.

"The initial failures compounded subsequent processes and The FA's failures in this respect only became known as a consequence of media exposure.

"Had The FA had the common sense and decency to recognise that Aluko, who had already demonstrated her talent on the pitch by receiving 102 caps, also had the intelligence and talent to help them solve the problem she had identified - and they would not be in their current situation.

"They obviously saw her as a non-entity and that's why she was treated as such – but they now know better."