Former Birmingham City defender and Sports People's Think Tank board member Michael Johnson has called for football's governing bodies to implement the 'Rooney Rule'.
The 'Rooney Rule' is an NFL policy in the United States that requires the league's 32 teams to interview BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) candidates for head coaching and senior operation roles.
Sports People's Think Tank board member Michael Johnson has now called for such a rule to be made mandatory in English football as well and he believes that just 22 out of the 482 (4.6 per cent) senior coaches at professional clubs in England being from BAME backgrounds is a situation which needs to be improved.
"The under-representation of BAME coaches is a problem that the game has been talking about for some time now," said Johnson.
"However, the actions that have followed haven't made the impact needed. We need a game-changing solution and for the SPTT and the sports people involved in our work that is a mandatory version of the Rooney Rule.
"It is no longer good enough for the football authorities to say they are committed to addressing this ongoing problem without disclosing how they will do this and sharing the results. This report clearly shows that what has been in place to this moment has not worked."
