MARK Sampson has been sacked as England Women’s manager after evidence of “inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour” during his time at a previous club.
Sampson, 34, has in recent weeks been the subject of accusations of racism, harassment and bullying made by former England player Eni Aluko.
Yet the FA announced yesterday that Sampson is leaving the role with immediate effect following a historic safeguarding investigation into his conduct while manager of Bristol Academy.
The news came less than 24 hours after Sampson oversaw England’s 6-0 win against Russia at Prenton Park.
An FA statement read: “The Football Association can confirm that Mark Sampson’s contract as England Women’s head coach has been terminated with immediate effect.
“Prior to taking charge of the national team in December 2013, Mark was manager of Bristol Academy. In 2014, safeguarding allegations were made against him about his time with Bristol.
“The safeguarding assessment was that he did not pose a risk working in the game. However, the full report of that investigation was only brought to the attention of the current FA leadership last week and it is our judgement that it revealed clear evidence of inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour by a coach.
“It is on this basis that we have acted quickly to agree a termination of Mark’s contract.”
Sampson took charge of England on Tuesday night as they thrashed Russia in their World Cup qualifier. His players pointedly celebrated the first goal with him to prompt condemnation from Aluko on social media.
“I have to say this is the most awkward and complicated issue I have ever dealt with,” FA chief executive Martin Glenn said at Wembley Stadium last night. “It is a different issue to the one being raised the Eni Aluko allegations.
“We felt that during his time at Bristol, Mark had overstepped the professional boundaries between player and coach. We both agreed that Mark’s position was untenable and we shared it with the board over the weekend.
“We had a subsequent meeting with the board on Monday because obviously the full implications had to be assessed. The board unanimously support our recommendation and therefore today we terminated Mark’s contract.”
Chelsea forward Aluko claimed Sampson had told her to make sure her Nigerian relatives did not bring the Ebola virus to the friendly against Germany at Wembley in November 2014.
Sampson was cleared by an internal Football Association review of Aluko’s claims, and by an independent investigation led by barrister Katharine Newton..
But the issue continued to hang over the FA after anti-racism group Kick It Out and the Professional Footballers’ Association argued there should be a new examination of the evidence.
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