Probe finds racial discrimination by England women's coach
LONDON (AP) Former England women's team coach Mark Sampson racially discriminated against two of his players, a fresh Football Association investigation has concluded after initially dismissing allegations of wrongdoing and prompting a damaging public row with striker Eni Aluko.
Sampson was cleared of discrimination by earlier FA investigations but was fired last month because of an unrelated case of inappropriate conduct toward players in a previous job.
Only now has a barrister considered new evidence about Sampson's conduct toward England internationals Aluko and Drew Spence, with the details being released ahead of a parliamentary hearing.
''I have concluded that on two separate occasions, MS (Sampson) has made ill-judged attempts at humor, which, as a matter of law, were discriminatory on grounds of race,'' barrister Katharine Newton wrote in the report.
One racially discriminatory comment by Sampson in 2014 toward Aluko requested her family members from Nigeria didn't come to a game because of Ebola.
''MS (Sampson) did treat EA (Aluko) less favorably than he would have treated a player who was not of African descent,'' Newton wrote. ''MS had therefore subjected EA to less favorable treatment because of her ethnicity.''
During a team meeting in 2015, Sampson also asked Spence if she had been to prison, and then suggested she had been arrested four times. Newton concluded that the comment was made ''because of her ethnicity.''
FA chief executive Martin Glenn apologized to Aluko and Spence before the hearing. But Aluko told legislators that Glenn's earlier conduct toward her was ''bordering on blackmail'' after he threatened to withhold payments from an 80,000 pound ($105,000) financial settlement unless she published a statement saying the FA ''was not institutionally racist.''
With Aluko sitting behind him, Glenn later told the hearing that the player had not been blackmailed.
Instead Glenn said that an August tweet by Aluko - ''at least we now know the FA's stance on derogatory racial remarks by an England manager. Ignore, deny, endorse'' - was a ''clear breach of the agreement.''
Aluko, who was part of the team that finished third at the 2015 World Cup, has not played for England since making her 102nd appearance in April 2016.
There was a more apologetic tone from Glenn in his written statement on Wednesday, saying that Sampson's conduct was ''not acceptable'' and he ''would like to sincerely apologize'' to Aluko and Spence.
''Our ambition has always been to find the truth and take swift and appropriate action if needed,'' Glenn said. ''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.''
