Major League Soccer (MLS) discovered that DC United did not fully comply with the league’s Diverse Hiring Policy, when it signed Englishman Wayne Rooney as its technical director. In this sense, the club must pay a fine of $25,000 dollars.
The Diverse Hiring Policy requires that “the pool of finalists includes two or more candidates from underrepresented groups; therefore, at least one candidate must be of African descent or African American.”
This section of the MLS was updated in 2021 to increase its effectiveness, including a specific focus on the hiring of candidates of African descent and the strengthening of policy enforcement mechanisms, as indicated in a league statement.
While the MLS review found that DC United met with two qualified candidates from underrepresented groups, the review found that one of those conversations could not be considered a “finalist pool” interview.
Beyond the fact that DC United relied on statements made by one of the candidate’s agents, who understood that they were interviewing as a finalist for the technical direction; during the interview, the club learned that he was not available to seek the vacant position.
Once the institution came to understand that this applicant was not available for the position, the discussion it could no longer reasonably be considered a “finalist group” interview.
Thus, DC United remained obligated to bring an additional candidate from an underrepresented pool to the “finalist pool” , or request an exemption from MLS, detailing the extenuating circumstances that would not allow them to have done so.
It is worth noting that the team led by Wayne Rooney was the worst in the Eastern Conference, finishing in the last place in the standings with just 27 points. This is the product of seven wins, six draws and 21 losses.
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