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Women in Football has said it is “deeply concerned” by the latest revelations surrounding Mark Sampson and have claimed that questions about the former England manager’s suitability for the job were flagged to the Football Association as early as 2013.
Sampson, who was appointed England manager in December 2013, was sacked on Wednesday after the FA said it had been alerted to “clear evidence of inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour by a coach” while he was at Bristol Academy.
It was previously thought the FA was first made aware of allegations that Sampson had engaged in inappropriate relationships with female players at Bristol in March 2014. After a 12-month investigation he was cleared by the FA’s safeguarding team to continue in his role. Martin Glenn, who was appointed the FA chief executive in March 2015, became aware of the investigation in October 2015 but apparently asked to see the full detail of the report only last week.
“WiF understands that questions over Sampson’s suitability for the role were flagged to the FA as early as 2013 during the recruitment process,” Women in Football said in a statement. “The safeguarding investigation of 2014, Sampson being sent on an education course in 2015, Eniola Aluko’s complaint in 2016 and Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson’s Duty of Care report published in April 2017 were all missed opportunities for the governing body to more closely examine the issues.
“Indeed it is unfathomable that an England manager could be sent on a course to emphasise the appropriate boundaries between coach and player, as a direct result of a safeguarding investigation, and not be subject to any sort of due diligence. WiF routinely receive complaints of discrimination and abuse from women working in football. We rely on the governing body’s ability to properly investigate these issues in a transparent and competent manner.”
Glenn, meanwhile, will be questioned by MPs about why he did not ask sooner to see the full details of the safeguarding allegations made against Sampson concerning his time at Bristol Academy.
Damian Collins, the chair of the culture, media and sport (CMS) select committee, believes Glenn should lose his job if it is found advice and warnings that might have seen the contract of the England women’s manager terminated earlier were ignored.
Collins has summoned Glenn and other FA executives to appear before the CMS inquiry on 18 October. It was originally intended to delve deeper into concerns raised by Aluko about the FA’s investigation into claims of bullying, harassment and racism during Sampson’s reign, first reported by the Guardian.
“Our concern is looking into the scope of investigation into the concerns raised about Mark Sampson recently by Aluko and in the past,” said Collins. “To say: ‘Actually was there information readily available to the FA that had they sought it out they would’ve terminated much earlier?’ Be it Martin Glenn or whoever, if it’s found that they ignored advice and warnings that were clear then I think their position does become untenable.”
Aluko first made allegations of discriminatory behaviour on Sampson’s part in a “culture review” by the FA that she was promised would remain anonymous. A week later, the Chelsea striker was dropped from the national setup by Sampson, who accused her of “unlioness behaviour.” The FA says the timing of her losing her place was a coincidence.
In March 2016 an FA investigation cleared Sampson of any wrongdoing but Collins believes executives at the FA should have demanded sight of the report into Sampson’s time at Bristol.
“When Aluko’s allegations emerged earlier this year at that point they should have said we should look back at the previous report because that was similarly an investigation into his conduct,” said Collins. “That wasn’t done. We’re going to hold an evidence session of the committee next month with Eni Aluko discussing her allegations and concerns. I hope Martin Glenn and other senior people from the FA will be here not just to answer questions on that but also these important questions of who knew what and when, when considering Mark Sampson’s position.
“Clearly, by the FA’s own admission, after seeing the full report based on the previous investigation he wasn’t fit to do the job, he wasn’t someone who should ever have been appointed.”
It is the second time in less than a year that an England manager has lost their job over off-field issues. Sam Allardyce was sacked after being caught up in a newspaper sting. Collins suggested there may be a rotten culture at the FA.
“Many people will see this alongside other issues, child abuse in football, appointment of Sam Allardyce and say they don’t seem to learn,” said Collins. “They don’t seem to have proper systems in place that allows good governance.
“Certainly there is a systems failure which means things aren’t routinely flagged up. If they are and people are ignoring those flags it’s even more concerning. Whatever it is at the heart of it, it’s not working. Time and time again the FA fall short of the standards we would expect.”
(THE GUARDIAN)
