Play.
The stigma of 'I told you so' should be eliminated with Black managers.
The decision to have racial diversity in management positions is a positive one. (1:45)
9:30 AM
Major League Soccer changed its hiring policy for sporting positions on Tuesday.
The Rooney Rule is intended to increase the policy's efficacy, add a specific focus on hiring Black candidates and strengthen the policy's enforcement mechanisms.
MLS' executive vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer Sola Winley said that there is a commitment from across the organization to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive league.
The MLS Black player pool is 25%, yet only 7% of assistant coaches and 10% of head coaches are black. The recent hiring of a manager for the Chicago Fire.
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The policy provides a definition of underrepresented groups. Black or African American, Hispanic/Latinx, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, Canadian Indigenous, Canadian First Nations, Women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community are included in the definition.
The combining of Hispanic and Latinx into one statistical group is viewed as problematic by some industry observers according to a professor at the University.
MLS defines Hispanic as Spanish speakers from outside the U.S., and Latinx as those Spanish speakers raised in the U.S.
"An Argentine who has been considered white his whole life, he didn't have any obstacles in Argentina to become the manager of Boca Juniors," said Elsey. We're looking at obstacles to get those jobs in the U.S.
Winley said that the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, which grades various sports leagues on their hiring practices, combines Hispanic and Latinx into one group.
"If that criteria changes, we will review it, but we want it to be consistent with how we are being scored across the sports industry," he said.
The policy will be in place at MLS level, as well as in the new lower division league, MLS NEXT Pro, as well as at the youth level with MLS NEXT. The hope is that more candidates from underrepresented groups will be hired at MLS level.
The update of the policy was the result of a collaboration between club personnel, league executives, as well as current and former MLS players. The effort was led by Winley, and included representatives from Black Players for Change, an independent organization of more than 170 MLS players, coaches and staff.
One of the changes is a requirement that the finalist pool for an open technical position includes two or more non-white candidates, one of whom must be Black/African American, as part of a renewed effort to prioritize opportunities for Black candidates. The policy used to only require one diverse candidate to be interviewed.
The interview process must include candidates with comparable experience for all candidates in the finalist pool. The spirit of the rule was violated when teams interviewed candidates whose qualifications did not match the job requirements. The term "minority" was stretched.
Robin Fraser, one of just three Black managers in MLS, said that the policy was not being taken seriously when he heard stories about people trying to pass off a Greek as a minority. I believe that the new policy will give more opportunities to Blacks and underrepresented people. The goal is not to give anyone anything. It's to give people opportunities to showcase themselves.
The general counsel of MLS and the DEI office will be in charge of adherence to the policy with input from other MLS leaders. The teams that fail to abide by the policy will be fined publicly, with fines of up to $50,000 for a first offense, $100,000 for a second offense, and more than $100,000 for subsequent offenses. The third offense penalties are up to the commissioner. The commissioner had sole discretion to impose sanctions.
The updated policy aims to address the issue of making sure the word gets out about technical positions. Teams used to be able to get away with advertising an available position to a select group of candidates. MLS is creating a diversity policy portal in which clubs must submit all details of vacant technical positions and include information related to all candidates in the final candidate pool.
MLS will only grant waivers to teams when there are "extenuating circumstances."
Changes will be made if the policy is found to be not achieving the intended results.
