Wolves under fire for "Rooney Rule" failure
Wolves reneged on an agreement to interview a BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) candidate when they recruited Walter Zenga in the summer, a new report has claimed.
In June they signed up to an EFL initiative, along with four other Championship clubs, to trial a "Rooney Rule"-style scheme during 2016/17.
However Wolves allegedly broke the code they voluntary signed up for, when hiring Zenga.
A report written by the Sports People's Think Tank said Wolves' inability to interview a BAME candidate was a 'clear breakdown of the code'.
It added: "The Wolves episode raises two questions. The first is that if the voluntary code is being ignored for highly visible first team appointments then it is very easy for clubs to ignore the mandatory code at the much less public academy level.
"The second is to raise the question as to who is monitoring and evaluating progress on the codes adopted by the EFL, who are the clubs accountable to?"
Fulham, Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town also signed up to the season-long trial.
At the time, then-chief executive Jez Moxey said Wolves were keen to trial the scheme, saying he hoped it would help achieve positive change in football.
The measures were aimed at tackling under-representation of managers and coaches from certain cultural backgrounds.
It is now mandatory for all clubs across the Football League to interview a BAME candidate if a position becomes available at academy level.
Wolves and the other three clubs are trialing it at first-team level.
It is believed they complied with the code when recruiting Paul Lambert. It is thought that Paul Ince was interviewed for the role.
Wolves have been contacted for a response.
