The first successful group of sports governing bodies to achieve the Equality Standard for Sport has been announced, with Sport England and the Football Association (FA) both having met the Foundation and Preliminary levels.

The Equality Standard was launched in November 2004 to try and eliminate barriers to participation in groups, including women, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities.

The standard assesses two areas, the development of the organisation – which demonstrates culture, policies and leadership – and the development of the organisation’s services – which refers to the impact on programmes, communications and customer service.

The standard is divided into four levels of achievement: Foundation, Preliminary, Intermediate and Advanced. To achieve Preliminary status, an organisation needs to be clear about what it needs to do to achieve equality, understand the issues facing under-represented groups, and have a robust equality action plan.

Organisations which have achieved Foundation level include the Amateur Rowing Association, English Table Tennis Association, Women’s Sports Foundation, Badminton England, Scottish Basketball and Triathlon Scotland.

A further 60 sports bodies are working towards the standard.