‘Sports banter' | Should employers ban office football chat?

Comradery, and the resulting chatter that inevitably occurs, is a common fixture of the workplace. And whilst many may argue that socialising within teams is a positive thing for workplace dynamics, some subjects can cause more division than unison.

As such, Chartered Management Institute Head, Ann Francke, has announced that the official stance of the body is that all football chat should be banned from the workplace.

Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, Francke explained that the key reason for this view is that such sports talk has the potential to exclude and alienate workers. "A lot of women, in particular, feel left out," she said. "They don't follow those sports and they don't like either being forced to talk about them or not being included."

Read more from us

Culture | Staff created ghoulish group chat to vent about customers

She went on to add: "I have nothing against sports enthusiasts or cricket fans – that's great, but the issue is many people aren't cricket fans. It's a gateway to more laddish behaviour and – if it just goes unchecked – it's a signal of a more laddish culture.”