Our Team.

Meet The Team

Riz Rehman

Trustee

Riz Rehman is a former professional footballer who played for Brentford FC. After leaving the game, Riz gained a First-Class degree in Sports Science from Kingston University and embarked on his coaching qualifications with the PFA, currently holding a UEFA B License.

Riz is also qualified to work in the post-16 sector and is trained in Talented Athlete Lifestyle Support. He is part of the Education Department at the PFA and works on the Unionlearn ‘Achievement Through Sport’ project that extends the learning, training and educational provision for its members. 

Furthermore, Riz works closely with several football clubs and their community trusts supporting the acquisition of skills for employment and education at all levels, while promoting inclusion, equality and community cohesion with a targeted approach to those learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Riz is currently the Player Inclusion Executive at the Professional Footballers’ Association, Chair of the Surrey FA’s ‘Inclusion Advisory Group’ (since 2019), a director at the Zesh Rehman Foundation (2011-present) and formery sat on the Advisory Group for the Premier Leagues flagship ‘Elite Coach Apprenticeship Scheme’ (2015-2020).

Dr Daniel Kilvington

Trustee

Dr Daniel Kilvington is a Senior Lecturer / Course Director in Media, Communication, Cultures. His teaching and research specialism explores ‘race’, sport and new media.

Dan joined Leeds Beckett University in 2015. He has published four books, Race, Racism and Sports Journalism (2012); Sport, Racism and Social Media (2014); British Asians, Exclusion and the Football Industry (2016); and Sport and Discrimination, all with Routledge.

He is currently conducting empirical work with black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) football coaches, focussing on exclusionary barriers and assessing the impact of the Rooney Rule. He also continues to research the exclusion of British Asians within professional English football.

Dan is the co-founder of the annual Sport and Discrimination conference series; the founder of the inclusion initiative, Creating and Developing Coaches, an event which aims to encourage networking between BAME grassroots football coaches/managers and key stakeholders within the locale; and the trustee of the Zesh Rehman Foundation (ZRF).

Rahul Mehta

Trustee

Rahul has been involved in purchasing hotels, setting up restaurants, football academies and advising football clubs in entering new areas such as India and Africa and worked on M&A deals in the sports sector.

Prior to working at Parker Lloyd, Rahul was at Hedge Fund Investment Management (HFIM), where he identified Hedge Funds and Long Only Funds for the firm to invest in. He also worked at Barclays Wealth in London and Dubai and gained a BA in Economics and Politics from the University of Loughborough.

Cigdem Turkan

Chair Of Trustees

Cigdem has a wealth of experience in football and sports management. Cigdem completed a MSc in International Sports Management at UCFB and Universidad Europea’s Real Madrid Graduate School, as part of Kick it Out’s ‘Next 25 Leaders in Sport’ scholarship. She also has a BSc in Sport and Exercise Sciences from Loughborough University.

Her journey in the Football industry began as an Intern at West Ham United (WHU), where she held the roles of Development Coach, Development Officer and eventually Health Programmes Development Officer – Leading the Health programmes (including NHS funded programmes in partnership with Newham CCG and local GPs). Following her time at WHU, she joined Chelsea FC as part of the Education team and remained there for 4 years. More recently, she joined Palace for Life Foundation as their Education, Training & Employment Manager and have recently been appointed as the Race Equality Lead. Cigdem also holds a consultant role with the FA, as an Education & Welfare Officer, supporting elite players who are part of the England Women & Girls’ talent pathway. As part of her wider involvement with Football and EDI, she is a member of the Premier League Charitable Fund’s Race Equality Advisory group.

In addition, she has been working at Arsenal FC on a matchday since 2011, beginning as a steward, working her way up to deputy supervisor, designated safeguarding steward and most recently qualifying as a Licensing and Compliance Officer, having gained a Personal License. As part of her involvement with the Club, she has had the opportunity to support UEFA Champions League and Europa League fixtures – including holding a liaison role and travelling with the first team to Turkish and German speaking countries (most notably the UEL final in Baku), supporting travelling teams at their training sessions in London & making Turkish announcements during home fixtures at the Emirates. 

Football is a big part of Cigdem’s life and a major bonding point for her and her father, who was also involved in football back in Cyprus and in the UK.

Vikas Sadiq

Projects Coordinator

Vikas Sadiq first joined the Zesh Rehman Foundation in 2013 as a participant on the Sidelined-2-Sidelines programme. After being mentored and supported in gaining his coaching qualifications (FA Level 1, FA Level 2 and Youth Modules) on the programme, Vikas has been able to gain experience of working with children, young people and adults from all backgrounds across various ZRF community programmes. The experience was vital in helping Vikas to become a confident coach and gain leadership skills which led to employment at Fulham FC Foundation, first as a community coach, and then main coach lead on their first ever female programme. Vikas continues to be an integral part of the ZRF Team and coordinates all funded programmes as well as providing information, advice, guidance and mentoring to those who wish to follow our similar path to his.