• Football

Ferdinand wants Rooney Rule adoption

Rio Ferdinand believes retiring black footballers will soon get the opportunities they crave to make a move into management, but he suggests the adoption of a quota system similar to the NFL's Rooney Rule may help the evolution.

Speaking at the launch of his new book #2Sides at London's Mayfair hotel, Ferdinand suggested the Rooney Rule, which requires teams in the American sport to interview minority candidates for head coaching positions, could be a route to bring more equality in English football.

"I think it's something to look at," Ferdinand said when asked about the Rooney Rule. "Whether it is should be implemented or not, I'm not 100% sure. I know the NFL have done it and it has worked well there.

British clubs have 'nothing to lose' over Rooney Rule

• The key architect of the NFL's Rooney Rule believes British football has "nothing to lose" by introducing a similar regulation.
  
  The rule requires NFL teams to interview at least one minority candidate for a head coach vacany.
  
  Dan Rooney, 82, told the BBC: "I would tell British clubs that if they would look at this openly they will find this is a positive thing."
  
  "The plus side of this is you're increasing your list of people to look at and it would really work. I couldn't recommend it enough for the teams in Britain.
  
  "It may take a little bit of work. But it would be a plus to the teams, to the league itself. When you think about it they have nothing to lose."

"When you look at the game, there is a huge percentage of players from races and people from different backgrounds and that doesn't seem to be reflected in executive positions in the game, in the organisations that run football clubs.

"I'm sure that will change in time. We only have two black managers [in English football] at the moment and that doesn't reflect what you see on the football pitch, but speaking to people at the FA, they seem determined to make an effort to address that. They are aware of it and trying to make efforts to address it."

Ferdinand said he has yet to decide whether he will make a bid to try and move into football management when he hangs up his boots, and he admitted suggestions he could find a role as a representative of English football at FIFA is an idea he would like to explore.

"I don't know what the future holds for me, but I certainly want to stay involved with football when I finish playing," he continued. "Maybe I will look into coaching, but a job in a big organisation would be interesting. [FIFA president] Sepp Blatter hasn't made a call to me yet, but I would look at something like that for sure."

Ferdinand spoke at length about his views on racism in the game and offered up intriguing views on Kick It Out, the established group that speaks out against discrimination of all kinds in the game.

The high-profile racism case involving Ferdinand's brother Anton and Chelsea captain John Terry saw Rio question the Kick It Out campaign, which he believed had missed an opportunity to make a stand against racism in football in the court case that followed.

The Kick It Out campaign reportedly accused Rio Ferdinand of using the court case and the issue of racism to try and promote his new book, but the defender refused to get into a public war of words with the organisation.

"This was a worldwide case and I said to them, 'Wear T-shirts on the way into that courtroom,'" added Ferdinand. "You have a chance let people know what it's all about. Two footballers are in a racism case - take a stand. Not just for my brother, but take a stand. They didn't and that was my point.

"I've got no personal feud with the Kick it Out organisation, but this was an issue just from my family's perspective. We were involved, this is how we saw it.

"As a footballer throughout my career, I was always one of the first to stand up for racism campaigns. Then this issue happened, a worldwide issue that got massive attention and it was an opportunity for Kick It Out to make a stand.

"Take the exposure, tell people you are involved. Why are you scared? Why turn away from it? This is the moment they had been waiting for. The time came for them to be stand up and be heard, and they didn't do it. The moment came for them to stand up, be heard and be seen. They weren't there, they didn't do that. This was my point.

"I hope that why my kids grow up, we have all learned from this situation and it will be dealt with differently."

This article originally appeared on ESPN FC

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