Labour MP Naz Shah demands action over racism claims in British ju-jitsu
Backbencher brings up claims by Bradford ju-jitsu club about bias and safeguarding issues — including boy who was made to fight much heavier opponents
A senior Labour MP told a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday that the British ju-jitsu regulator has serious questions to answer over claims of years of systemic discrimination.
Naz Shah, MP for Bradford West and a former opposition frontbencher, said that ju-jitsu competitors from ethnic minority backgrounds had faced persistent barriers and claimed that the British Ju-Jitsu Association (BJJA) had failed to address longstanding issues of racism within the sport.
She also criticised Sport England — which is overseen by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport — for failing to hold the BJJA to account, and called for the withdrawal of the organisation’s official recognition as a national governing body and the establishment of a new organisation “who can provide confidence in the sport”.
Shah singled out the experiences of Onna Ju-Jitsu — a Bradford-based martial arts club in her constituency — and its founder, Mumtaz Khan. Khan has accused the BJJA of biased and inconsistent judging at national events since 2018.
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“I’m raising this in parliament because I believe, despite the best efforts of Mumtaz to seek justice for her students who have been wronged, Sport England has failed,” Shah told MPs.
“They have failed not only the club and those individuals but they have failed in upholding their own policies, and have engaged in what I can clearly see, and I’m clear to call it out, as textbook attempts in covering up failure,” she said.
Shah spoke of Onna Ju-Jitsu’s work promoting inclusion and empowerment through martial arts, saying that promising competitors were losing motivation due to what they felt was systemic discrimination. “A future for them in sport, if they ever had ambitions for it, ended the moment accountability and justice was not provided by the very organisations that could have taken action,” she said.
She accused the BJJA of dismissing Khan’s complaints through “improper processes” overseen by committees “made of the very same people and embedded in the very same institutional culture”, effectively “marking their own homework”. Shah pointed to a lack of transparency, noting that the BJAA had no publicly available governance structures, democratic procedures, or minutes from meetings.
Shah gave numerous examples involving Onna athletes from ethnic minority backgrounds to highlight what she described as a pattern of bias and safeguarding failures in competitive ju-jitsu. She cited an incident at the 2018 National British Ju-Jitsu Championships in Birmingham where a competitor was injured by an uncontrolled kick to the face and head.
According to Shah, the incident was captured on video and required intervention from a paramedic, who advised the competitor to withdraw. Despite this, the match was awarded to the opponent — a decision that the MP said contradicted standard rules, where such a move would typically result in a red card and disqualification.
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Other alleged examples raised by Shah included competitors being moved to higher weight categories unfairly, overturning of wins, and a female athlete being entered into a boys’ category, where she still managed to win a bronze medal.
Shah also raised additional safeguarding concerns within the BJJA, referencing a case in which a boy from the club was moved to a significantly higher weight category and made to fight opponents who were up to 10kg heavier. Drawing parallels with Alex Eastwood — a 15-year-old who died a week after a kickboxing match against a 34-year-old man — Shah told MPs that the “same issues apply here in terms of safety”.
Stephanie Peacock, Labour MP for Barnsley South and parliamentary under-secretary for sport, media, civil society and youth, told MPs that the government’s stance was “unequivocal” and that racism “has absolutely no place” in sports and society. She agreed that the BJJA “fell short of” the expected standards and added that she had met with Sport England to discuss the concerns raised by Shah.
A spokesperson for Sport England said: “Racism in sport in any context is completely unacceptable. It is an ongoing priority for Sport England and our partners, and a significant part of our investment, to ensure that grassroots sport is safe and inclusive for all.
“We are not a regulator for sport and physical activity and do not fund BJJAGB. We therefore strongly reject any suggestion that we have failed to act or not responded to concerns raised.”
The BJJA has been approached for comment.
