Les Ferdinand questioned why the likes of Sol Campbell or Paul Ince cannot take a high-profile managerial role with little experience when Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have done.
Campbell earlier this week took the reins at Macclesfield but the former England, Arsenal and Tottenham defender has endured a long wait to break into the managerial ranks.
In contrast, Campbell, whose appointment makes him the eighth BAME coach to be working in England's top four divisions, has seen former international team-mates Gerrard and Lampard take up positions with Rangers and Derby respectively.
Ferdinand, who played alongside Campbell at Tottenham, told the Sportsweek programme on BBC Radio 5 live: "When the likes of of Frank and Steven and Mark Hughes and all these guys come out of football everyone touts them as good managers.
"You never see a Sol Campbell or a Paul Ince, none of the black players coming out of football, touted in the same way.
"OK admittedly Steven did a little bit at the Liverpool Under-18s, and then gets the Glasgow Rangers job. Frank Lampard comes out of football and goes straight into Derby.
"Sol's been touting himself around for a long time and doesn't get afforded the same opportunity."
Asked whether he was implying racism, the former England striker replied: "There's a little bit of something going on there.
"At one stage Sol was touted as one of the best defenders in the world yet (was) never touted to be a good manager."
Ferdinand is currently the director of football at QPR but revealed he was rejected by the Football Association to replace Dan Ashworth as its technical director.
Ferdinand added: "I did the interview for the position.
"I spoke to Dan and (chief executive) Martin Glenn but unfortunately they felt I wasn't the right person for the role at this moment in time.
"Dan felt through the interview that, knowing my character, I'd be happy to go and sit in front of all the FA councils and governing bodies. He didn't think that was where I wanted to be right now.
"I'm a little bit disappointed by it. But it is what it is."
ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '9f97243a-c438-4862-a71e-1a20bbb47859');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Ferdinand questions why Ince and Campbell cannot get high-profile managerial roles'});
