Some equality campaigners had wanted the original draft legislation to do more to help tackle under-representation. Data from the Black Footballers Partnership (BFP) found 43% of footballers in the Premier League are black, yet just 4.4% of management positions are occupied by black ex-players, dropping down to 1.6% in executive, leadership and ownership positions.

As part of the new legislation, clubs will be “required to be transparent and publish what action they are taking” to improve EDI.

BFP executive director Delroy Corinaldi told BBC Sport the organisation “cautiously welcomes the bill, particularly the addition of commitments on equality, diversity and inclusion”, but added it “will need to go much further than simply the reporting of the data”.

Women in Football, which is campaigning for at least 30% representation of women in senior decision-making roles, also welcomed the new bill. It said: “It is crucial that [the bill] includes specific targets.

“Currently, women hold only 10% of board positions in the Premier League and a mere 5% in the Championship, in stark contrast to the 35% representation of women on boards in FTSE 100 companies.”

EFL chairman Rick Parry said the league welcomes the new bill, adding that “we believe [it] has been framed in a way that will enable the new regulator to protect and achieve the sustainability of clubs across the entire football pyramid”.

Parry added: “We will first take time to scrutinise its full detail and implications for clubs across the pyramid, including the key issue around the regulator’s backstop powers in respect of financial redistribution.”

Niall Couper of the Fair Game campaign group said: “Our initial assessment is that this bill is an improvement on the legislation put forward by the previous government. However, the big concern remains fair financial flow.”