English Football Association bosses are set to face inquiry at parliament over the investigations into former England Women coach, Mark Sampson, for alleged racism and bullying of Eniola Aluko.
Eniola who plays for the Chelsea ladies along with her ex England teammate Lianne Sanderson have been invited to give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Select
Committee.
Also to be questioned by the Members of Parliament are FA Chairman, Greg Clarke, Chief Executive, Martin Glenn, Technical director, Dan Ashworth and Racheal Brace of Human Resources.
Mark Sampson was sacked last month for “inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour” in form of a relationship he had with a female player in a previous job. He has however denied all allegations levied against him.
Sampson had been cleared earlier of all charges in a second probe conducted by Katharine Newton but has been criticised as key witnesses to the incident were not interviewed by Newton forcing the FA to reopen new investigations last month.
Newton’s updated interview of key witnesses to the incident is the basis for the fresh invitations and investigations.
Ashworth and Brace who conducted the first investigations would face the panel to answer questions on how the investigations were carried out as the Professional Footballers Association has described their investigations as a “sham”.
The panel led by Chairman Damian Collins is known for its impeccable character and its reputation over the years for leaving no stone unturned with senior sports official in unravelling the truth in every issue.
With that in mind, Clarke and Glenn will feel the brunt as the panel will try to unravel the reasons for trying to pay Eniola Aluko £80,000 in an attempt to avoid an employment tribunal after clearing Sampson of all charges and why no key witnesses were interviewed by any of them.
Despite elevating the English National Women’s team to third in the World, the panel stated that the allegations levied against him was sufficient to sack him but rather he had continued coaching young female players which nobody in an authority position looked into.
Aluko has not featured in any match for the team to increase her 102 caps since making her claims in 2016. She accused Sampson of belittling her and making racist remarks about her Nigerian family.
Sampson has reportedly asked Aluko if any of her family would visit her and on her reply of her Nigerian family visiting her, her English Coach had said her family ensures that they do not come with the Ebola Virus. Aluko said she “suffered victimisation as a result of reporting discrimination”.
She also claimed that Sampson also asked mix-raced England and Chelsea teammate, Drew Spence if they have been arrested before, which Sampson also denied but Spence has opted to come out with evidence.
The FA insisted its decision for the inquiry was not related to Aluko’s claims, but sports minister Tracey Crouch described the situation as “a mess”.
