THE Premier League is reportedly in talks with the FA over introducing a quota that commits to having at least one Black, Asian or ethnic minority (BAME) coach at every club.
The Daily Mail claim informal talks have been held between England’s top-flight and governing body over the proposal.
The Premier League are set to follow the FA’s lead in committing to at least one BAME coach at each team, a policy that led to Chris Powell working with the England squadCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The report adds that the idea has the backing of many influential players, which comes just days after Raheem Sterling insisted that black players are still not getting the opportunities to become top bosses in football.
The FA introduced a policy of assigning one BAME coach to each England team in 2018 as part of a new equality action plan.
Part of that initiative, which the EFL followed in 2019, involved rolling out a version of the “Rooney Rule”, in which they committed to interviewing at least one BAME candidate for all England coaching roles.
That led to Chris Powell working with Gareth Southgate’s senior squad and the likes of Sol Campbell earning international coaching experience.
SunSport first revealed Premier League chiefs were in talks over a programme to boost ethnic-minority coaches last year.
And top-flight clubs are now under pressure to address the lack of representation of minority groups in coaching positions in light of debates triggered by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Despite the fact that more than 30 per cent of Prem players are from a BAME background, the figure for coaches is around five per cent.
Meanwhile, Premier League captains were influential in persuading clubs to replace names on shirts with ‘”Black Lives Matter” for the season’s restart.
England star Sterling has recently admitted that the lack of black people in football’s hierarchy and in the dug-outs remains a concern for him.
He said: “The coaching staff that you see around football clubs, I’ll give a perfect one.
“There’s Steven Gerrard, your Frank Lampards, you have your Sol Campbells and you have your Ashley Coles.
“All had great careers, all played for England. At the same time, they’ve all respectfully done their coaching badges to coach at the highest level.
“And the two that haven’t been given the right opportunities are the two black former players.”
Raheem Sterling says black players are not getting chance to become top managers – compared to fast-tracked Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
