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Mark Sampson set to leave job as England women’s manager Mark Sampson sacked as England manager after fresh allegations of inappropriate conduct
(about 1 hour later)
Mark Sampson is set to leave his post as manager of the England women’s team, it is understood. Mark Sampson has been sacked by the Football Association after the chief executive, Martin Glenn, became aware of the “full detail” of inappropriate relations the England manager had with female players while he was manager of Bristol Academy.
On Tuesday Sampson oversaw a 6-0 victory against Russia in a World Cup qualifier. His players showed their support for him amid allegations of racism, which he denies, by running to celebrate a goal with the 34-year-old. Sampson was deemed fit to continue as England manager after the FA carried out a safeguarding investigation when the allegations were first made in March 2014. Glenn, who joined the governing body 12 months later, insists he was first told of the investigation in October 2015 and read the full report for the first time only last week when someone from outside the FA advised him to do so.
Sampson is now expected to leave his job, with an announcement anticipated on Wednesday afternoon. It is understood allegations of bullying and racism made by Eni Aluko against Sampson and first revealed by the Guardian prompted other whistleblowers to come forward and raise concerns about the suitability of the Welshman for the job of England manager. He vehemently denies the allegations.
The reason for his departure is not believed to be related to the ongoing controversy surrounding claims that he made racial remarks to two of his players, including Eni Aluko. It emerges Eni Aluko, the England and Chelsea forward, made claims of bullying and harassment against Sampson and his staff in May 2016. An FA investigation, concluded in March 2017, cleared Sampson and his staff of wrongdoing but it emerges Aluko was paid a £80,000 settlement in a confidentiality agreement, which the FA insisted was to avoid disruption to England’s Euro 2017 campaign
He has been cleared by two inquiries. The Football Association is reinvestigating after accepting that its first two inquiries were insufficient on the basis that neither of them had felt it necessary to interview Drew Spence about what Sampson allegedly said to her at the China Cup in October 2015. Details become public of an allegation made by Aluko, claiming Sampson made a remark towards another player with 'racial and prejudicial connotations'. Sampson is alleged to have made reference to the number of times a player had been arrested
Spence’s grievance is that Sampson allegedly asked her how many times she had been arrested. Eni Aluko’s allegation is that Sampson told her to be careful her Nigerian relatives did not bring Ebola to Wembley. Sampson strenuously denies making either comment and has described the investigations that cleared him of any wrongdoing as an “incredibly thorough process”. Aluko alleges Sampson made a racist comment to her before an England game. After telling Sampson she had relatives coming from Nigeria to watch the international, Aluko claims Sampson replied: 'Well make sure they don’t come over with Ebola'
Sampson was appointed as England’s manager in December 2013 following a five-year spell as manager of Bristol Academy in the Women’s Super League. Sampson speaks publicly for the first time about the allegations and says his conscience is clear: 'This has not been a nice situation for anyone'
He took the side to the third place in the 2015 World Cup in Canada – their best performance to date – and also steered the team to the semi-finals of this year’s European Championship in the Netherlands. Sampson appears to contradict evidence he gave to the inquiry when he tells a press conference he cannot recall ever having a conversation about Ebola with Aluko
The team currently sit top of their qualifying group for the 2019 World Cup following the emphatic win over Russia on Tuesday evening. The Guardian reveals the FA is giving serious consideration to launching a new investigation into the Sampson affair after Drew Spence, one of two players to allege he had made a racial remark, comes forward to tell the governing body that what Aluko has said about the England women’s team manager is true
More follows Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn becomes aware of the 'full detail' of inappropriate relations Sampson had with female players while he was manager of Bristol Academy
Sampson’s departure comes less than 24 hours after England beat Russia 6-0 in their first World Cup qualifying match. During that game he was embraced by the players in a clear demonstration of support for the manager in the wake of the Aluko allegations. The 34-year-old’s contract was due to expire in June 2019 but he was informed over the phone by Glenn on Wednesday afternoon that it would be terminated immediately. It is understood his salary was between £100,000 and £150,000 a year and it is understood he will receive a pay-off of around £20,000.
Glenn and the FA’s chairman, Greg Clarke, held a specially convened press conference at Wembley to discuss Sampson’s shock departure. “I have to say it is the most awkward and complicated issue I have ever dealt with,” said Glenn. “In 2014 there was a safeguarding-related complaint made about Mark when he was coach at Bristol Academy. He had been an FA employee for just a few months at that point. There was a full investigation, a proper investigation, an assessment process and when the report concluded in March 2015 he was deemed not to be a safeguarding risk.
“However the full report of that investigation was only made known to me last week,” he added. “On reading it I immediately shared it with Greg and we were both deeply concerned with the contents of the report. Let’s be really clear: no laws were broken; Greg and I are not able to challenge the professional views of our safeguarding experts. We thought the conduct issues raised in the report were what the problem was.
“Mark had overstepped the professional boundaries between player and coach.”
Glenn said that the decision was ratified by a meeting of the FA board on Monday.
The minister for sport, Tracey Crouch, said: “This situation is a mess and raises very serious questions about whether the historic processes that the FA had in place around the recruitment of coaches were appropriate, for something like this to have been missed. The FA are right to have taken action but reassurances is needed to make sure this does not happen again at any level of coaching.”