There’s no shortage of revelations for people to get stuck into after everything we’ve heard today. But perhaps what most caught people’s attention Eniola Aluko saying that it was “bordering on blackmail” that Martin Glenn, the FA’s chief executive, allegedly intimated to her that she would only receive the second part of her settlement payment if she agreed to release a statement saying the FA was not institutionally racist. Asked by the committee, Glenn denied making that claim.
The FA did, however, begin the afternoon by apologising to Aluko and Drew Spence after the reopened investigation into the Mark Sampson affair concluded that the now-deposed England Women’s manager did make discriminatory remarks to two of his players. Greg Clarke, the FA’s chairman, then went on to defend himself for a 14-word reply to an email from the PFA, an organisation he later criticised, about an inquiry it called a “sham”.
Near the end, it also emerged that Mark Sampson is considering a wrongful dismissal claim by the FA. All in all, it’s unlikely it’s the last we’ve heard of this story. But that’s all from me for now. We’ll have reports and analysis up on the site soon. Thanks for reading. Bye.
That brings an end to the inquiry. Lasting a good four hours, that was one intense grilling.
Why was the settlement to Eni Aluko in two payments? Martin Glenn said the FA wanted no distractions from the case during Euro 2017. He repeats that the contract was broken by Aluko’s tweet on 30 August. That leads to questions about whether the FA wanted to keep Aluko quiet between the two payments. Glenn denies this.
Speaking about the FA’s drive for greater inclusivity in football, Greg Clarke says that he has met someone who told him that he could introduce him to a gay Premier League footballer.
FA execs are asked about high-profile @lucyjward_ discrimination case at Leeds. All four look blankly, and admit they had never heard of it.
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
The FA has admitted that it has never heard about a previous discrimination case in football: Lucy Ward’s sacking by Leeds United. The club was ordered to pay its former academy welfare officer £290,000 following her employment tribunal victory against the club. Ward successfully pursued an unfair dismissal and sex discrimination case against Leeds in April after arguing that the reason she had been sacked in 2015 by the club’s owner Massimo Cellino was because she was the partner of former manager Neil Redfearn.
“When did this happen?” says an incredulous Greg Clarke.
Updated
Mark Sampson was paid up the nine months of his contract, DCMS hears. Martin Glenn says Sampson now considering a wrongful dismissal claim.
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Mark Sampson considering lawsuit against FA
Mark Sampson’s lawyers have told the FA that he is considering a claim of wrongful dismissal.
It is put to Greg Clarke that his explanation over his 14-word reply to the email from the PFA about this case was iffy. Clarke insists it’s the truth and points out that the exchange happened last November - when the FA was mired in the abuse scandal.
Greg Clarke now says his 14-word email was so curt as it coincided with the football-abuse revelations and he was "working 22 hours a day"
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Updated
Greg Clarke says the FA took too long to reach an answer because its grievance procedure was not good enough. He says that he will be apologising to Eniola Aluko. It’s pointed out that she’s sitting behind him and he could do so now. Clarke insists he will properly apologise to Aluko and engage with her.
Martin Glenn is reminded that he chose not to apologise to Eniola Aluko for the FA’s handling of this case. Damian Collins sweeps past him. Greg Clarke admits that mistakes have been made and says the process was too slow.
Damian Collins tells Martin Glenn that the FA should have apologised for “failures in process”. Glenn responds that that’s an “unfair characterisation”.
Martin Glenn: “We do not exist only to conduct internal reviews.” He says it’s actually to the FA’s credit that they eventually brought in an independent barrister. He insists that the FA was trying to find the truth. He says that the FA didn’t need to bring in Katherine Newton.
Dan Ashworth: “I was trying to put in a measured and balanced view.” He’s told that praising the atmosphere the atmosphere under Mark Sampson risked pre-judging the FA’s own inquiry. Damian Collins says the FA’s investigation “falls a long way short of what people expect.”
Damian Collins says he finds it strange that Dan Ashworth could be allowed to say that he thought Mark Sampson was doing a good job as England manager. “I’m not an HR expert,” Ashworth says.
Ashworth also accepts "in hindsight it was wrong" that he gave personal evidence (backing Sampson) at an FA inquiry he was in charge of.
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Updated
Rachel Brace insists that Dan Ashworth gave “a point of view” rather than evidence at the FA’s initial internal investigation. The FA’s HR director says she had many conversations with Ashworth about this and wouldn’t have let him give evidence.
Damian Collins tells Martin Glenn that he doesn’t think the FA understand the criticisms that have been made of its internal investigation. It’s getting quite heated in the room.
It gets worse. Rachel Brace, HR director, says several times that Katherine Newton had never said FA review was "not adequate" (1/2)
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Updated
Greg Clarke adds that the FA is trying to become more transparent. He apologises to Eni Aluko because “I need to set an example”.
The FA is asked about press leaks. Is the FA scared of the press finding out things about the organisation?
“I don’t feel there’s fear of the press,” Dan Ashworth says.
“There’s merit in your argument,” says Greg Clarke. “The FA sometimes behaves like a whipped dog. When I was shortlisted as one of two people interested in this job, people asked if I was mad ... that introduces a defensive mentality and a propensity not to make decisions. What I will say is the management team Martin has put in place is the best I’ve seen in a 40-year category.”
Updated
How could Mark Sampson not be happy with Eniola Aluko, an 102 cap player? “You’re right, Mark isn’t here to answer those questions. What I would say is in Eni’s previous 13 games for England she had scored one goal.” Ashworth maintains it was a coincidence that Aluko was dropped after contributing to the review.
Dan Ashworth is told it’s too much of a coincidence that Eniola Aluko has not been picked for England since the cultural review. “I did not know who was in the review. As the technical director, the head coach picks the team, not me. Mark had been disappointed with some of the recent performances and he made some changes. One of the players dropped.”
Rachel Brace says she thinks the initial investigation was “adequate”. She admits there were things she would do differently, though, such as making sure people feel confident about coming forward to speak and that confidentiality is stronger.
Does Martin Glenn think the FA has failed in its duty of care? “Yes, in this case, there’s clearly been mistakes.” So you’ve failed? “There have clearly been mistakes.” He refuses to categorically say the FA has failed in its duty of care, leading to stinging criticism from the committee.
The committee tells Greg Clarke the FA should pay Aluko the rest of the money. “Sure,” he says.
Greg Clarke is now apologising for referring to institutional racism claims as “fluff”. Oh Greg!
Updated
DCMS cttee moves onto Allardyce sacking. Clarke say now FA spends "lot of money raking through every cupboard...if there are any skeletons"
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) October 18, 2017
Martin Glenn: “The concern about Mark Sampson was raised in April 2014. Had I been chief executive at the time, I started in 2015, I would have spoken to the chairman. Senior people knew it, but the board weren’t informed. There was a lack of knowledge.” He says the handover of information was not good enough and left current senior FA figures like Rachel Brace in the dark.
It is said that it is “extraordinary” that the FA’s chief executive did not read a safeguarding report into the England manager. The buck stops with Martin Glenn. “It does, it does,” says Greg Clarke. Oh!
Dan Ashworth is asked if, as Mark Sampson’s line manager, the initial safeguarding report in March 2015 should have related to his continued employment. He tries to bat it away. But he’s asked what changed between March 2015 and September 2017. “I wasn’t aware of the details of the report.”
Rachel Brace says she started as HR director in 2016 and that the information was not given to her when she got the job. She said she finally received the report last month. “When I read the report I had some concerns.”
The committee is asking Martin Glenn if Mark Sampson would have fallen foul of the FA’s current safeguarding rules. The reply is that his sacking was down to a “conduct issue”.
Knowing what you now was Mark Sampson in breach of the FA’s safeguarding rules? “The FA has a big involvement in safeguarding and the job of the safeguarding team is to judge if someone poses a risk. The issue we have had with Mark Sampson as a football participant and an FA employee.” He adds that Sampson was sacked not because he was a safeguarding risk but because he conducted behaviour not appropriate for an FA employee.
Dan Ashworth says that Mark Sampson was sacked because of “the detail” in the report rather than the alleged offence within it. He says he found out about it at the same time as Rachel Brace and Martin Glenn, adding that they had been previously been told that Sampson posed no risk.
Dan Ashworth is asked whether he was told about the allegations into Mark Sampson’s conduct at Bristol City. He says he was.
Greg Clarke admits that, outside of assessing his footballing ability, due diligence into Mark Sampson was not conducted by the FA when he got the England job. “You don’t pry into the Chinese wall of safeguarding,” he adds.
Updated
Dan Ashworth says it was his job to check if Mark Sampson was good enough to manage the England football team. He adds that it was up to HR to look into referencing of Sampson and adds that he had never met Sampson before his first job interview.
Greg Clarke repeats that none of the allegations in the safeguarding report about Mark Sampson were illegal. “They crossed the boundaries in acceptable behaviour from a coach.” He says that left the FA to conclude Sampson was not suitable to manage the England women’s team. However he says safeguarding reports merely say whether he is a risk rather than if someone is an appropriate candidate for a management job.
It is put to the FA that it is staggering it sat on a safeguarding report that eventually led to an employee being dismissed. “The miss in the FA was a failure to consider some of the wider conduct issues and therefore employment issues emanating from that should have been,” Martin Glenn says. He adds that the FA is starting to take a different approach to safeguarding. He says that people within in the FA knew about the report back in 2015, but that he and Rachel Brace chose to act in September of this year when they were made aware of its contents.
Dan Ashworth is asked if Eniola Aluko was dropped from the England team because of what she said in the cultural report. “I can categorically confirm that did not happen.”
Dan Ashworth says that the only names in the cultural report were those who gave Owen Eastwood permission to use them. He says other names are redacted.
Dan Ashworth is finally asked a question. He explains the thinking behind instigating a cultural review. He brought in Owen Eastwood with the view to spreading uniformity across the board for England’s 16 teams.
Greg Clarke admits that he can’t feel good while Eniola Aluko, an 102-cap player, feels that she has not been protected by the FA. “How can I feel good?”
Dan Ashworth has not been asked any questions yet. Time’s running out.
Will the FA make the rest of the payment to Aluko? Martin Glenn: “We will reflect on it.” He’s told it’s a yes or no question. “We will reflect on it.” He denies asking Aluko to make a statement saying the FA was not institutionally racist.
Updated
Martin Glenn says the FA tried to get Aluko to correct and change the wording of her tweet.
Eniola Aluko did not think her tweet was defamatory; the FA does.
Martin Glenn is asked about the agreement of the settlement the FA reached with Eniola Aluko. He says the conditions were that neither party spoke about or made defamatory comments about the other. He says that a tweet sent by Aluko on 30 August contravened the agreement.
Updated
Given the floor, Greg Clarke tells the story of meeting a weeping former player who he claims the PFA wouldn’t help. He says he lost respect for the organisation.
FA chair Clarke on @PFA:"They are walking away from alcoholics, they are walking away from addicted gamblers" Slams PFA CEO Taylor's salary
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) October 18, 2017
Updated
Greg Clarke says he is going be “very frank” about the PFA. He says he is pro-union. He says there are some very good executives and foot soldiers at the PFA - he references the work the FA did with the organisation about the Rooney Rule. But he says he has a number of problems with governance at the top of the PFA. It gets heated. The committee tries to stop him as this is an inquiry into the FA. But he’s given the floor...
Greg Clarke says that the committee should speak to Sport England about devising new governance procedures that can be shared with various national associations.
Greg Clarke is asked if he has considered his position. Of course not. He says the job is “career death” and that he wants to make the situation better.
Greg Clarke says the recruitment process has not been up to scratch in the past: “There is very little evidence of proper referencing at the time.” He says there were systemic historic failings that “have contributed to this mess. “This is not the FA’s finest hour.” But he believes the current team is making things better.
Martin Glenn says Mark Sampson’s conduct rather than his safeguarding at Bristol City was not appropriate. He says if he’d seen the original report at the time, he would have taken action sooner.
Martin Glenn: “Mark Sampson did not break any law.”
Martin Glenn is now being asked about safeguarding within the FA... He says investigators presented their findings to the FA in March 2017. He says there were recommendations for Mark Sampson to receive mentoring in order for him to be suitable to work in football. He says he did not hear about this until a later date.
Glenn says it was "the end of a long day and came out all wrong." He says he is willing to apologise but "it was not a pack of lies."
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Damian Collins to Glenn: "You've done it (withdrawn comments re Guardian article) because if you had said that it would have been illegal."
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
It is being put to Martin Glenn that he is retracting his comments about the independent barrister because he realised it would have been illegal under employment law. Again he apologises if the comment came out incorrectly.
Martin Glenn: “I was pleased with the appointment of Katherine Newton.”
FA CEO Glenn previously said he selected investigation head based on ethnicity. Now says:"It’s not a pack of lies but it’s an embellishment"
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) October 18, 2017
Updated
Martin Glenn says he made the comment “at the end of a long day”. He apologises if it came out badly.
Martin Glenn retracts comments to the Guardian saying he deliberately wanted Newton as barrister because of sex/ethnicity (1/2)
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Updated
Greg Clarke says his reply was not directed at Eniola Aluko but at the PFA. His responses on the issue have been bullish.
Greg Clarke says that his fourth reply was “abrupt”. He asks why he didn’t explain to the PFA that his hands were tied - he says he did. He is told that his response looked passive aggressive. He says seeing the evidence would restrict his governance role.
Greg Clarke defending dismissive email eerily reminiscent of Seb Coe at DCMS last year. "Don't tell me," he says, putting fingers in ears.
— Martha Kelner (@marthakelner) October 18, 2017
Greg Clarke says the PFA was “trying to suck him in”. But he adds that he doesn’t blame them for that. “However in a national governing body it is different.” Again he brings up the Sport England code which shows he is mandated to behave in that way. He feels he has been made to look “oafish” and he is “disappointed”. He feels the irony is that the people doing that have some “really, really bad governance”.
Greg Clarke continues to say that there were constant attempts to drag him into the issue. He says his hands were tied. Does that mean the whole FA process is flawed? “I have chaired a number of public companies. There must be a clear delineation between governance and management.”
Why did Greg Clarke ask to be “enlightened” about why the PFA put the allegations to him? He says he explained three times to the PFA chief executive three times at matches that his hands were tied by the Sport England code. He says if he was involved he would have had to recuse himself. “I’ve tried to stay in my governance box.”
Updated
It’s Greg Clarke’s turn. He’s asked about that 14-word email. He has a brochure. “I was mandated and directed by the Sport England code not to get involved.”
Updated
Does Rachel Brace agree the FA’s own investigation was inadequate? She says she doesn’t and that nor does the barrister.
Did you accepted that what Eni had said was true? “I accepted Eni had heard something that Drew had said.”
Which witness did you speak to? “We couldn’t speak to Drew Spence. We watched the video. There was no evidence on the video of anything untoward happening.”
The committee is telling Rachel Brace that the FA did not investigate a serious investigation satisfactorily. Rachel Brace says she spoke to Lianne Sanderson and Anita Asante.
Rachel Brace says there were no stones unturned in Katherine Newton’s investigation. However the committee is saying that the FA did not do enough to interview key witnesses.
The FA's director of HR, Rachel Brace, has just told inquiry they always knew the player at China Cup was Drew Spence (1/2).
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
(2/2): yet the FA media dept has said since the start they did not initially know Drew Spence's identity - and blamed Eni Aluko for that.
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Rachel Brace agrees that none of the 16 players put forward to Katherine Newton by Dan Ashworth were in the meeting relating to issues about Drew Spence. She is being grilled about whether it’s right none of the eye-witnesses were interviewed. Did the FA steer the barrister away from the right witnesses? “You can only speak to players who want to come forward.”
Rachel Brace adds FA recommended 16 players for K Newton to speak to - yet not Drew Spence and none of the eye-witnesses. Laughter in room.
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Updated
Rachel Brace says she did not instruct Katherine Newton to do anything as that would be inappropriate. She says the names of players were put forward as witnesses. She is asked if any of them were in the relevant meeting. She says they were players who were happy to come forward.
Rachel Brace: “These were really serious allegations and it was my understanding from the first meeting that this was very sensitive. It needed to be kept tight. It needed to be done with absolute privacy. Eniola gave us the name of two witnesses she wanted us to speak to. We recognised that the internal process had not got where Eniola wanted it to.”
Rachel Brace is defending the FA against suggestions that it did not speak to Drew Spence. She says that Spence said in a meeting at Chelsea that she did not want to be involved in the investigation.
Updated
Rachel Brace: “We had a second meeting with Eniola and the PFA and we admitted that we hadn’t seen the video. We admitted that was an oversight.”
Is it right that Aluko’s specific complaints were not answered by the FA? “We did not ask her to do that,” Rachel Brace says.
FA executives now in front of hearing. Martin Glenn's written evidence says FA "followed what we believe to be a robust and fair process."
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Updated
Martin Glenn says Eni Aluko received “a fulsome response” to her grievances. The committee is taking issue with the level of the response Aluko received. “I wont admit she didn’t get a response,” Glenn says.
Updated
Martin Glenn is asked whether it was right that Dan Ashworth was a witness in the FA’s own inquiry. “I have a different opinion. We took the concerns and the complaints seriously. We followed them in the way that was typical of most organisations, an internal review, and then when that fell short for the complainant, we looked outside.”
Martin Glenn is told that Katherine Newton was critical of the FA’s own inquiry. He defends the FA’s approach and tries to bring in Rachel Brace at this point. The focus, however, stays on him.
Martin Glenn: “I believe the subjects were dealt with honestly and diligently.”
Martin Glenn is asked if he should apologise for the FA’s handling of the affair. “I want to reiterate the apology to Eniola Aluko and Drew Spence. It’s not right an FA employee should behave that way. We have a grievance procedure, but it’s clearly fallen short in respect to the pressures elite players have.”
Glenn says he believes the FA have acted with “decency and openness”. He says opening an independent inquiry shows the FA took grievances seriously. He references “inappropriate banter.”
Lianne Sanderson has finished giving evidence. The FA suits, Greg Clarke, Martin Glenn, Dan Ashworth and Rachel Brace, have arrived.
Updated
Lianne Sanderson’s evidence is starting to wind down. Next up will be Martin Glenn, the FA’s chief executive. Eni Aluko earlier said that Glenn intimated to her that if she released a statement saying that the FA is not institutionally racist then she would receive the rest of her settlement money. She refused. “I felt that was bordering on blackmail,” she said.
Also from Aluko evidence - how, she says, her former team-mates were encouraged behind the scenes to think she was a bad influence (1/3)
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
(2/3) This included, she says, black actress being hired – portraying her, she believes – for role-play about a selfish, misbehaved player.
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
(3/3) players were “uncomfortable with this demonstration because they believed actress was perpetrating negative, unfair perception of me”
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Updated
Lianne Sanderson: “I wasn’t asked to be part of the culture review.” She says that when Rachel Brace contacted her about the inquiry she was perplexed not to be told in advance what it was about.
Lianne Sanderson: “I would have expected a phone call as opposed to finding out on Twitter that I hadn’t been selected for the squad. There was preferential treatment to certain players.”
Updated
Lianne Sanderson says more publicity for the team means there must be more professionalism off the field.
Lianne Sanderson is asked about changes to grievance procedures at the FA. “It has to happen naturally. We don’t want things to happen just to tick a box. It doesn’t mean you lose your England career just because you’re sitting here today.”
Lianne Sanderson says that Mark Sampson’s sacking doesn’t solve everything. She says there are deeper issues.
Is the treatment of Aluko and Sanderson an encouragement for women to enter sport? “We want change,” Sanderson says.
Lianne Sanderson also critical of FA investigation: "The first report wasn't the truth because they didn't interview anyone who was there."
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Having been dropped by Hope Powell after a fall-out with the former England manager, Lianne Sanderson says she returned to the England set-up in 2015 because of Mark Sampson. She says past experiences with England had left her vulnerable and she felt Sampson knew that.
Lianne Sanderson: “The way they treated Eni in the first place was different to other people on the team.”
Lianne Sanderson: “As Eni’s friend, I’ve seen it’s been a torrid time for her.”
Lianne Sanderson: “From that moment, I felt I was forced out. When I reached out to the team psychologist to ask why I wasn’t involved in team activities, he said he’d been told I wasn’t available.” She adds that she once found out on Twitter that she hadn’t been included in a squad last year.
Lianne Sanderson feels that she has been ostracised ever since her 50th cap was forgotten about in England. She says she has received no contact from the FA while she has been injured, for instance.
Lianne Sanderson mentions an occasion when Mark Sampson told her she wasn’t included in a squad as only four strikers were being named for a game England expected to win. When the squad was named, there were eight strikers.
Lianne Sanderson says she raised the issue with Mark Sampson. He asked if she was sure it was her 50th cap, which she found insulting given her love of playing for England.
Lianne Sanderson: “To this day, I haven’t been told I’m not good enough for England.” She says things started to change after her first year under Sampson. She pinpoints the moment when nothing was made of her 50th cap in China. Instead nothing happened, which she says is out of the ordinary. “This had never happened before. No other player had ever been forgotten about before.” She says other players were made a fuss of after their 99th cap and wondered why she had been left out.
Updated
Did the culture change under Mark Sampson. “I had a great time in the first year under Mark Sampson.” But she adds that she noticed problems with Aluko. In reference to the video analysis, in which derogatory comments were made about Aluko and heard by the entire squad, she says that this is usually mute.
Have other players been speaking about this case. Sanderson: “I think so, but it’s more older players from 15 years ago who have raised a few things. I have always maintained that as long as Mark Sampson was in place no one was going to speak out. The consequences are quite harsh. I don’t blame the girls. It’s not easy being here. It’s not easy being called a liar. I was always going to stand by Eni. She was telling the truth.”
Sanderson is asked if she agrees with Aluko’s comments on the FA’s grievance procedures. “There definitely needs to be something in place so this doesn’t happen to other players in the future.”
Eni Aluko has made way for Lianne Sanderson. We are expecting to hear from Martin Glenn at 4pm.
Eni Aluko's evidence finishes
Eni Aluko closes by saying: “One of the core purposes of me coming to speak today was so to enact change in grievance procedures. I’ve given my experiences, but that was well documented, so I would hope there are changes in that area. If players have any issues, I would encourage them to speak to the PFA.”
Some banter: Aluko is asked if she has any Scottish roots. There is laughter.
Eni Aluko continues: “I won the Golden Boot in September 2016, but by this time we were six months into this case. The timing of why I wasn’t picked at this time, even winning the Golden Boot wasn’t enough.”
Eni Aluko asks why any player would ever come forward with issues again after seeing what’s happened to her. She’s asked if it’s normal for the Golden Boot winner not to be in the England squad. “I don’t think so. Hypothetically would Harry Kane not be picked if he won the Golden Boot? I don’t think so.”
Aluko says that her issue isn’t necessarily not being picked, but how she was treated while she was in the team. But she believes she wouldn’t be picked by Mark Sampson since May 2016.
Updated
Eni Aluko: “I have been available for selection since May 2016, but I haven’t been selected.”
Will Aluko take legal action to get the rest of her settlement money? “I haven’t thought about.”
EA evidence refers to “shambles” inquiry and points finger at Dan Ashworth, FA technical director, for “protecting his recruit” (Sampson)
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Eni Aluko says that the second part of her settlement money was supposed to be paid on 31 August.
Are there any attempts to mend fences? “Quite the contrary,” Aluko says. “I feel the FA’s sole agenda has been to protect its own reputation while making insinuations that I am lying, whilst leaking reports to media journalists about things I hadn’t had the opportunity to see. So no, there has been no attempt to build bridges or to show me a duty of care as a centrally contracted player. That has compounded the sense of isolation I felt.”
She says the FA has been very defensive. She says that she is worried about what would happen if another player made a complaint tomorrow. What would be the process, Aluko wonders? She wonders why it has come to this - while she is grateful to be given an opportunity to speak, how is it reached the stage where she is doing so at a parliamentary inquiry?
Has the FA contacted Aluko about changes they might be making? “No.”
Eni Aluko: “To this day I don’t know if my evidence was compromised. Dan Ashworth has said my participation in the cultural review and me being dropped were not linked. But I think Mark Sampson was aware. He may have felt I was going to say something. It’s that nudge and wink culture - get rid of her before she says something.” She reiterates that attempts to set up meetings with Ashworth about her misgivings never came to fruition.
Eni Aluko says that Lee Kendall might have been trying to speak to her in a fake Caribbean accent in an effort to endear himself to her. But she after a while it began to grate. “I’m not Caribbean, I’m of African descent. It’s not necessarily offensive, but I found it ignorant.”
Eni Aluko thinks that there were pre-conceived ideas of her being lazy. She says that Mark Sampson tried to defend England women’s goalkeeping coach Lee Kendall, who was making derogatory comments about her performance and who she says also spoke to her in a fake Caribbean accent. “It didn’t give me comfort. It’s almost like a staffroom comment.”
Updated
Eni Aluko says that negative comments about her performance in a particular England game were only made about her. She is clearly troubled by this.
Eni Aluko: “Nobody ever said to me ‘how much money can we pay you to keep quiet’?” She says the settlement was based on loss of future earnings, something she might have received at an employment tribunal.
Eni Aluko: “I felt I would never play for Mark Sampson again. My position in the team was untenable.”
Eni Aluko adds she doesn’t know why certain things from initial investigations weren’t followed up but is now pleased with the findings.
Eni Aluko: “I respect Katherine Newton’s findings.”
Is Greg Clarke guilty of bullying you with his 14-word email? “Wow, I’ve not had a chance to think of that. I don’t know if I would go that far, but it is an incredibly dismissive attitude. It is really disappointing. I thought it would get better the higher up the chain it went, but actually it said it could worse. Would that happen to a male player with 102 caps for their country and 11 years of playing?”
Eni Aluko is asked about whether the terms of the settlement agreement was to secure ‘good behaviour’ from her while she was working for Channel 4 during Euro 2017: “I can’t speak for the FA in terms of why they suggested the two tranches should be paid separately, but I think they assumed I wouldn’t keep my mouth shut at the Euros and I could have said something on Channel 4 or on air. I agreed it as it wasn’t in my mind, I wanted to support the team.”
Eni Aluko says that her issues are not with the FA as an organisation but with certain individuals: Dan Ashworth, Greg Clarke, Martin Glenn and Rachel Brace. She says she has been careful to separate the issues.
Eni Aluko says more about Martin Glenn: “For Martin Glenn to effectively suggest that I should say the FA was not institutionally racist [when I had a legal agreement], I think it is a suggestion that the case has been handled appallingly. I don’t know what the legal definition of blackmail is but I think I was being asked to do something I hadn’t ordinarily have done to receive the rest of my payment.”
Eni Aluko: "Bordering on blackmail"
Aluko says that Martin Glenn intimated to her that if she released a statement saying that the FA is not institutionally racist then she would receive the rest of her settlement money. She refused.
Aluko is currently giving evidence: "I felt that was bordering on blackmail. I categorically refused to write any statement . ."
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
Updated
Have you been paid the full amount of your settlement by the FA? “I have not,” Aluko says.
Why not? “They were agreed in two tranches. The FA have claimed I was defamatory in a tweet I have sent and on that basis they feel they were legally entitled to withold the payment. I disagree with that. I think when the initial Daily Mail article came out I was very brief. I wanted people to still support the England team. It was only after that when a lot of misleading stories came out and I felt I needed to speak out. The FA were keen for me to be very clear. I have given two interviews.”
Aluko describes it as a “request/demand . . . unwarranted and unreasonable.” As it stands: the FA is refusing to pay up.
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
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Eni Aluko is asked about Greg Clarke’s 14-word email. “I was astonished. By the time in November 2016 when the full report was sent, I actually felt at the time that sending it to the FA chairman would lead to a better process - if he looks at this it is going to improve. But actually it was the opposite. Because if it’s the FA chairman disrespectfully dismissing the complaint, I have nowhere to go. The last resort is to go the employment tribunal. The PFA was responded. A male player with 102 caps, Wayne Rooney, if they were to send a complaint like that, would he respond like that? This is a separate issue. Are the issues of female players in this country taken seriously enough at all levels of the FA? I would suggest that email says they’re not.”
Did the FA fail to give you a specific response to your allegations? “They were very keen to say there was no wrongdoing without looking at the video evidence from the China Cup. They hadn’t spoken to Lianne Sanderson at that point even though I had made it clear Lianne had issues in the team. They were dismissive straight away in the first meeting. We didn’t speak about specific itemised issues.”
Eni Aluko continues: “I categorically did not say that Drew Spence refused to be interviewed in any investigations. Let’s say I had - is it not prudent to pick up the phone and confirm that [with her]? I think that’s quite basic. That could have happened in the internal investigation and in Katherine Newton’s investigation. But I understand that Katherine Newton had to act on instructions and was told Drew Spence did not want to investigate and that was not the case.”
Katherine Newton: "[Sampson] appears to have difficulty judging the appropriate boundaries when engaging in “banter” with the players."
— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) October 18, 2017
Katharine Newton's report concludes Sampson “did treat EA less favourably than he would have treated player who was not of African descent”
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
This comes after Newton's second investigation (unlike the first) interviewed Spence and other witnesses. Three confirmed "arrest" remark.
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) October 18, 2017
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Eni Aluko says of the FA’s technical director: “I felt I was ignored by Dan Ashworth. He ignored my email.”
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Aluko says: “I couldn’t tell you what the whistleblowing procedure is at the FA.” She says that she wanted to speak to Dan Ashworth about the problems she was experiencing and says the FA’s technical director wasn’t in the meeting.
Why did Aluko’s lawyer believe the investigation would not carry weight? “Because it wouldn’t have been tested before a high court judge. The legal process wouldn’t have been what would have happened in court. That’s the nutshell of the advice he gave to me. I didn’t feel confident in any case about taking part in an FA investigation I felt already had a lot of flaws in it.”
Eni Aluko says: “I didn’t receive any advice about whether I should participate in Katherine Newton’s investigation by the FA.” She adds her lawyer didn’t feel it would be wise for her to take part in the investigation - he told her that it wouldn’t be taken seriously in a court of law.
Eni Aluko is now speaking at the inquiry. “I did feel isolated in terms of the process. I didn’t want it to be as adversary as it has become, in terms of the Football Association versus Eni Aluko. I haven’t spoken to many individuals that I used to speak to at the FA. But in terms of the PFA, I feel I have had unwavering support. Without their support I wouldn’t be sat here. In terms of friends, in life you realise your strongest friends are and who some aren’t. Lianne Sanderson has been a very good friend of mine and a team-mate. I cannot say I have been completely isolated. It’s been difficult, but I’ve been supported in some areas”
In his statement, Glenn says that Sampson’s comments were ill-judged attempts at humour and that Newton found that the deposed England manager is not racist.
Breaking: Martin Glenn apologises on behalf of FA to Eni Aluko and Drew Spence
The FA’s chief executive has apologised to the two England players for Mark Sampson’s racial remarks. A third inquiry, conducted by the barrister Katharine Newton, has found that Sampson did tell Aluko to be careful her Nigerian relatives did not bring the Ebola virus to Wembley and also upset Spence, a mixed-raced player, by asking her how many times she had been arrested.
Daniel Taylor has the full story and here’s what Glenn had to say:
On behalf of The Football Association I would like to sincerely apologise to Eniola Aluko and Drew Spence,” Glenn said in a statement.
“Based on new evidence submitted to independent barrister Katharine Newton, she has now found that they were both subject to discriminatory remarks made by an FA employee. This is not acceptable.
“She also concluded that there was no evidence to support the allegations that Eniola Aluko was subjected to ‘a course of bullying and discriminatory conduct’ by Mark Sampson.
“Our ambition has always been to find the truth and take swift and appropriate action if needed. It was our decision to have the original, second and final investigation to ensure that due diligence was taken. It is regrettable that Eniola did not participate in the first external investigation as this would have enabled Katharine Newton to conduct and complete her investigation sooner. We will fully support the recommendations from the report.”
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Preamble
So here we are, in front of the digital, culture, media and sport select committee, waiting to find out more about the Mark Sampson affair and the Football Association’s handling of a case that has cast a shadow over the women’s game in England. It has been almost a month since Sampson lost his job as the manager of the England women’s team amid reports that the FA was guilty of a cover-up over racism allegations made by players in his squad. Top FA executives are set to be grilled about the apparent failure to deal satisfactorily with the seriousness of the issues relating to Eni Aluko and Drew Spence. Aluko has been invited to speak, along with Lianne Sanderson, another player involved in the story.
The players will be going first.This is a story that snowballed after Aluko, who holds 102 England caps, gave an interview on 21 August to the Guardian in which she alleged that Sampson had told her not to let her Nigerian relatives to bring the ebola virus to a game at Wembley. Much has happened since then, but to fast-forward to the latest developments, this week the Guardian exclusively reported that Greg Clarke, the FA chairman, responded with a 14-word email - “I’ve no idea why you’re sending me this. Perhaps you could enlighten me?” - after a six-page letter from the Professional Footballers’ Association detailing complaints against Sampson and another member of staff. As Daniel Taylor, our chief football writer, says, Clarke is likely to face some difficult questions this afternoon:
Clarke was one of four FA executives to be sent a letter from the PFA alleging that the governing body’s technical director, Dan Ashworth, and the director of human resources, Rachel Brace, had overseen a ‘sham’ internal review that was ‘not a genuine search for the truth’ and ‘designed to close down the complaint and absolve Mark Sampson’
The letter was sent in November 2016 and accused the FA of deliberately sabotaging Aluko’s 11-year international career to protect Sampson as well as setting out a series of grievances detailing “the incontrovertible evidence that makes it clear the purported investigation was a sham”.
It was the first time the FA had been informed of a previously unreported allegation that Sampson – already accused of offending Spence, a mixed-raced player, by asking how many times she had been arrested – had also made an allegedly racial remark involving Aluko’s Nigerian relatives and the Ebola virus.
Sampson, who was sacked last month, with the FA citing an old safeguarding report, denies all the allegations and has been cleared by the previous two inquiries – one staged by the FA and another, independently, by the barrister Katharine Newton. The second investigation was reopened a few weeks ago amid criticism of Newton’s work and the revised findings are likely to be revealed during Wednesday’s hearing.”
The session is due to begin at 2.30pm BST and we’ll be getting updates along the way from our chief football writer Daniel Taylor and our chief sports correspondent Martha Kelner.
Big fixture for DCMS committee, kick off 2.30. https://t.co/mWhjcQ1r2M
— Martha Kelner (@marthakelner) October 18, 2017
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