• Study sheds doubt on clubs’ interviewing of BAME candidates• Kick It Out appoints Sanjay Bhandari as new chairFootball League clubs should be fined, or even docked points, if they fail to take steps to appoint a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) manager, according to a report.
The EFL requires its clubs to interview at least one BAME candidate when hiring a first-team coach after a change in regulations this summer. A version of the Rooney rule used in
American sports, the initiative is the first of its kind in English club football. But a study that looked at the regulation during a voluntary trial found a lack of transparency and the nature of the “first-team bubble” meant it was almost impossible to track externally whether the rule was implemented. There are currently only four BAME managers across England’s top four divisions.