The English Football League has decided to get with the times and institute a new rule that would force teams to interview at least one Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidate for any first-team managerial position.

The EFL has been criticized for decades because of its woeful lack of diversity in the coaching ranks. Sports People's Think Tank has been conducting studies on the EFL for years, tracking whether the league was diversifying its senior ranks as much as its player pool.

They found that 30% of professional soccer players are ethnic minorities, yet only 3.3% of managers and head coaches are from similar backgrounds.

"We are delighted to see the @EFL have introduced a policy where at least one BAME candidate is interviewed when an EFL club is searching for a new first team manager. This is something we called for in our first SPTT report 5 years ago." they wrote on Twitter on Friday.

"Of course, this measure alone will not solve the issue of the under representation of BAME managers and coaches. However, it is a significant step. We look forward to seeing what the @premierleague will do to ensure all 92 clubs are working with the urgency required."

EFL clubs voluntarily committed to the rule 18 months ago and decided to make it official at the EFL general meeting on Friday. There are currently only 3 BAME first-team managers in the EFL.

The EFL have officially made the 'Rooney Rule' compulsory for all clubs from next season.

This means that Football League clubs will have to interview one Black, Asian or ethnic minority candidate for every manager's position.

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— Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) June 7, 2019

CONCACAF's Director of Development, Jason Roberts, said the move was a step in the right direction but needed to be expanded further to make a true impact.

"One part of an important initiative which will ensure more diverse, qualified applicants considered by key decision makers..employing the future managers and coaches in the @EFL," he wrote on Twitter.

"Well played!! Now onto @premierleague to complete the whole game approach."

The EFL referenced the NFL's Rooney Rule, which forced teams to interview at least one minority candidate when searching for a new head coach.

In their last report in 2017, the Sports People's Think Tank said the league should adopt a Rooney Rule and added that the problem has persisted for decades despite statements pledging to fix it.

"Whilst there have been some minimal numerical advances in the levels of BAME senior coach representation over the three-year period 2014 (3.7%) to 2017 (4.6%), this increase is largely accounted for by the efforts of a small number of more progressive clubs in London and the South East of England with a stronger and more consistent recent track record of hiring BAME coaches," they wrote.

"The situation clearly reflects a denial of opportunities, but perhaps worse, it affects the core business of football. It can be argued that to ignore the performance gains that diverse coaching teams offer is a form of professional neglect the financial structuring of professional football places a premium on winning like never before, so why would the industry be closed to finding the most talented coaches, regardless of ethnicity?

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