English Football League commit to regulation addressing under-representation of BAME managers

The regulation has been trialled voluntarily by clubs over the past 18 months

The new regulation has been formalised by the EFL (Getty)

The English Football League has committed to new recruitment regulations to improve equality in first-team football to help under-representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) managers.

The regulation follows an 18-month trial period with EFL clubs voluntarily committing to interview at least one BAME candidate when undertaking the recruitment position for a managerial position.

The new regulation has now formalised that procedure ensuring the provision of more opportunities to BAME candidates is mandatory when considering multiple applicants for a role.

Speaking about the EFL’s efforts to “lead the way” to address under-representation at the beginning of the trial period, chief executive Shaun Harvey said: “We acknowledge that some would like to see us go further and move faster, but the priority, at this time, has to be to understand whether a code of this type is capable of delivering the positive results that everyone in the game is seeking.

“By supporting the extension of our positive action measures, EFL clubs are leading the way to address the under representation of BAME managers and coaches in professional football.

“Having operated such measures in both academy and first-team football over a whole season, we believe that this approach has the potential to deliver the right outcomes if operated by all clubs over a period of time.”