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| Mark Sampson sacked as England manager after fresh allegations of inappropriate conduct | Mark Sampson sacked as England manager after fresh allegations of inappropriate conduct |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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 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. | |
| It is understood that claims 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. | It is understood that claims 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. |
| 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 | 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 |
| 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 | 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 |
| 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' | 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 speaks publicly for the first time about the allegations and says his conscience is clear: 'This has not been a nice situation for anyone' | 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' |
| 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 | 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 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 | 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 |
| 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 | 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 defeated 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 the balance of his contract will be paid, believed to be around £20,000. | Sampson’s departure comes less than 24 hours after England defeated 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 the balance of his contract will be paid, believed to be around £20,000. |
| Glenn and the FA chairman, Greg Clarke, held a specially convened press conference at Wembley to discuss Sampson’s departure. “I have to say it is the most awkward and complicated issue I have ever dealt with,” Glenn said. “In 2014, there was a safeguarding-related complaint made about Mark when he was coach at Bristol Academy. He had been 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. | “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. We know that coaches are in a potential position of power and that position mustn’t be abused. That’s been true across all sports. And is true in football as well. We have to be really clear and I think we are at the FA about what we stand for in that respect.” | “Mark had overstepped the professional boundaries between player and coach. We know that coaches are in a potential position of power and that position mustn’t be abused. That’s been true across all sports. And is true in football as well. We have to be really clear and I think we are at the FA about what we stand for in that respect.” |
| Clarke said the allegations were made by players at Bristol Academy, where Sampson was head of the College Girls Under-18 development squad and later first-team manager. “There are different allegations about different things which is why we’re talking in the plural,” he said. “Some could be categorised as trivial and some as very serious.” | |
| Sir Trevor Brooking was director of football in December 2013 when Sampson was appointed as England manager. Questions are now likely to be asked about whether due diligence was done at the time. FA executives have been summoned by the government’s culture, media and sport select committee on 18 October to explain their handling of the whole Sampson situation. Sampson is the second England manager in less than a year to lose his job over off-field behaviour after Sam Allardyce departed 67 days into his reign following a newspaper sting. | |
| Tracey Crouch, the minister for sport, 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 reassurance is needed to make sure this does not happen again at any level of coaching.” | Tracey Crouch, the minister for sport, 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 reassurance is needed to make sure this does not happen again at any level of coaching.” |
| Both Glenn and Clarke insisted standards had been raised at the FA and that Sampson would never have been recruited in the current climate. | Both Glenn and Clarke insisted standards had been raised at the FA and that Sampson would never have been recruited in the current climate. |
| “We are not going to apologise for wanting to drive higher standards,” Clarke said. “Let’s look at safeguarding in sport and football, the whole culture has been ignore it, don’t deal with it, hide it, put it under the carpet because bad things will happen. We can do that. We know we can’t do that so there are plenty of people in the game that have got an unblemished record to provide a great pool for us to continue to recruit great coaches from.” | “We are not going to apologise for wanting to drive higher standards,” Clarke said. “Let’s look at safeguarding in sport and football, the whole culture has been ignore it, don’t deal with it, hide it, put it under the carpet because bad things will happen. We can do that. We know we can’t do that so there are plenty of people in the game that have got an unblemished record to provide a great pool for us to continue to recruit great coaches from.” |