watching my individual performance clips on a Replay Analysis system that hosts a full video of .... The China. Cup was
Written evidence submitted by Eniola Aluko Background 1.
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My name is Eniola Aluko. I am a 30-year old professional footballer for Chelsea FC born in Lagos, Nigeria and raised in Birmingham, England. I started playing football at 5 years old with my brother, Sone Aluko (also a professional footballer, currently playing for Reading FC) and other children in the local area where I lived. The majority of the children in the local area were boys and I quickly realized I had to play on the same level as them to be accepted in the area. I soon became otherwise known as the “girl that is better than the boys” in my local estate. My passion, gift and love for football blossomed from that point onwards. I was the only girl in the school football team (See Appendix 1 1) throughout junior school. This came with its own advantages and challenges at a young age, however as I got older I learnt to accept my gift of playing football as a girl as something that was positive, unique and empowering.
I was scouted for the England youth teams when I was 14 years old playing in the Birmingham City ladies first team. I was incredibly proud to receive the letter to get selected for my first youth England camp. I was so proud and excited I turned up in a skirt suit to my first England camp whilst everyone else turned up in a tracksuit. At the time it was embarrassing and very uncool but in hindsight it demonstrated how much pride my family and I felt for me to start my career as an England player. I feel great honour to say that I remain one of the youngest ever England senior women debutants at 17 years old in 2004. I am delighted to say that I am an England centurion having reached the milestone of 102 caps for the England senior women’s team. I am very fortunate to have played for England for 11 years from 2004-2016 with many personal and team successes during my England career. My 9 year career under former England manager Hope Powell included highlights such as qualifying for the 2007 World Cup in China for the first time in 12 years, scoring a brace in the 2009 European Championship quarter finals and winning a silver medal in the 2009 European championship final against Germany. My substitute appearance against Germany and securing a bronze medal at the 2015 World Cup is also an England career highlight.
Throughout my England career, I have balanced playing football semiprofessionally and professionally with my studies and legal qualifications to become a UK Solicitor. I was delighted to achieve a First Class honours in Law from Brunel University in 2008 after many sleepless nights in the library preparing for the arduous legal exams after football training. I qualified as a UK Solicitor in 2014.
Positive relations with the FA 6.
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I gained valuable legal work experience during my university studies. I fondly remember my first work placement in the FA legal department for 2 weeks and
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I remain grateful to the FA for giving me such valuable exposure so early on in my journey as a lawyer. This is one notable example of many that exemplify my longstanding positive relationship for 9 years with the FA.
I also wrote a personal column for the FA media department for over 12 months and was nominated as an FA ambassador for the 2018 World cup bid (See Appendix 2). I have spoken on behalf of the FA and England at several media engagements throughout my England career on various matters including team performance, development and off the field matters pertinent to women’s football. Furthermore, I have also spoken on behalf of the FA on more difficult topics such as racism, in partnership with initiatives such as Show Racism the Red card. I was unanimously nominated by my England teammates as the team representative to negotiate an improvement of the terms of Central contracts given by the FA. To ensure a fair and transparent process, I organized a voting day for players to vote for four current England teammates – two senior and two younger players – to form a committee of representatives to improve the Central contracts. As a team, we believed it was important to improve professional standards of the England senior women’s team after the watershed experience of the 2012 London Olympics.
I was honoured to represent the interests, concerns and expectations of the team alongside the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), giving my legal knowledge as a resource for the understanding of the team and individual teammates. Central contracts have improved considerably over the past 5 years with salaries increasing from £16,000 pa in 2013 to £25,000 pa with £5,000 maximum bonuses at the time of writing. Important contractual clauses relating to issues such as maternity and notice termination periods have also been introduced, which is crucial for the continuing alignment with the working rights of professional females.
I am as proud of my contribution to the development of central contracts and professional standards in women’s football as I am about my performances for England on the pitch. I hope to continue to be a voice and representative for the continuing development of women’s football in England and the rest of the world. My other off field commitments include ambassadorial roles for the Premier League, Chelsea FC and UN Women UK.
Negative relations with the FA & Mark Sampson 12.
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Because of my many positive and memorable experiences with the FA as an England player, it is with huge disappointment that I will speak to the select committee about my negative experiences between 2014 to date under the management of former England manager Mark Sampson, including the serious concerns I raised in the course of a ‘Culture Review’, the circumstances in which I came to be dropped from the England squad in May 2016 and the events that have followed. At the outset I wish to state that I am not the architect or engineer of any of the circumstances that have led to this invitation to give evidence to the 2
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committee. My intention in dealing with this matter has always been to speak the unedited truth whilst avoiding these matters being played out in the press. I was asked by Dan Ashworth to take part in his Culture Review in May 2016, which I will expand on below. In this review, I answered all questions put to me and had a productive and honest conversation with the external consultant engaged by the FA regarding my negative experiences under Mark Sampson. At the time I believed my feedback would be treated confidentially and that the information would be used productively to prevent similar issues continuing or recurring in the England women’s team culture.
I did not ask for Mark Sampson to lose his job as England manager. I simply gave a factual account of what I believed were inappropriate and unacceptable actions and behaviour towards me (and others) as an England player.
I certainly did not anticipate effectively having my England career ended a week after I reported serious concerns as part of the Culture Review. I also did not anticipate having to give up a legal job I had worked extremely hard for because of an FA investigation carried out around the same time as I raised my grievances (which I explain in more detail below).
I believe that the FA’s handling of, and response to, my complaints was seriously defective. In the circumstances, my last resort was pursuing my complaints (of race discrimination and victimisation) in the Employment Tribunal, so as to ensure a level of independent scrutiny that is standard in the legal system. Ultimately, however, I chose not to go down this route by agreeing an out of court settlement with the FA, thereby avoiding the stress involved in litigating such a high-profile matter.
It has been widely reported that my settlement with the FA amounts to “hush money” – in essence, that a payment was made to keep me silent about the grievances I had raised. I believe it is inappropriate to describe the settlement as “hush money”. The financial negotiations regarding the out of court settlement related to my loss of earnings and future earnings as a result of the treatment I had been subjected to. I have paid national insurance and tax on the first tranche of the settlement sum, because it amounts to loss of earnings that would ordinarily have been taxed at source.
These negotiations were not based on how much money I would accept to keep silent. I was due to lodge my claim in the Employment Tribunal and was prepared to take that route to deal with what I felt was a strong case of discrimination and victimisation, as I shall come to shortly. I understand that confidentiality is a standard clause in out of court settlements when both parties decide it is best to avoid litigating in a public forum. The agreement also specified that should matters come into the public domain, I would be permitted to speak about them.
At present, the FA has taken the decision to withhold the second payment owed to me under the settlement agreement (the settlement sum was payable in two instalments, and it is the second instalment which is being withheld). I understand this to be on the grounds that I spoke out publicly about matters regarding the FA and Mark Sampson. It is regrettable that the FA are giving conflicting public messages, including by initially stating that I was “free to talk about the case”, whilst now breaching a contractual agreement because I spoke about the case. I was surprised that when I recently met with Martin Glenn (as 3
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referred to below), he indicated that, were I to issue a public statement confirming that the FA was not institutionally racist, then they were likely to release the outstanding sum they are already contractually obliged to pay me.
After my legal claim was settled, I was pleased to move on from a very stressful 9 months dealing with these matters. I had a positive focus. I had no intentions to disrupt the European championships in dealing with my case prior to settlement. On the contrary, I was keen to focus on the wonderful opportunity to work with Channel 4 as a media pundit and support the England team at the European championships in July 2017. The FA’s suggestions that I had an intention to disrupt preparations for the European championships are misleading and false. I was therefore deeply shocked to read the Daily Mail article on 7 August 2017 after a leak of my Culture Review report / feedback. The media coverage of this case has been very challenging and at times overwhelming. It is certainly a level of media exposure that I really wanted to avoid.
Again, I wish to point out that my negative experiences over the course of three years should not be deemed as wholly representative of my entire England career and/or my relations with the FA. Indeed, my references to the FA throughout this hearing are references to the actions of specific FA individuals as opposed to a general reference to the FA as an entire institution.
My disappointment in speaking negatively today is only heightened on reflection because of my memorable experiences as an England player. Despite my extreme disappointment and upset at how my England career has ended, I still remain grateful to have been able to make, and extremely proud of, all my contributions to the England national team both on and off the pitch. My core intention in giving evidence today is to contribute to a review of the grievance and whistleblowing procedures for the FA, England players and female players in the FA Women’s Super League (WSL). I hope that the current situation will change and improve as a result. I share my experiences and views in the hope that lessons are learned and acted upon with immediate effect to ensure that grievance procedures protect players, and provide them with the confidence to come forward and raise concerns, rather than expose them to the significant detriment I have experienced.
Amongst other matters, I wish to endorse the creation of genuinely independent avenues for the investigation and determination of player grievances. I believe an independent body dealing with my grievances against Mark Sampson would have been in a position to deal with the issues thoroughly, without actual or perceived conflicts of interest; and that this would have avoided any concern that the FA’s handling of the matter was influenced by a desire to protect the reputation of Mark Sampson and/or the FA.
2014-2017 Experiences under Mark Sampson’s management 26.
Mark Sampson became England manager in January 2014.
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At the time of Mark Sampson’s appointment, I had scored 4 goals in 5 International matches under the interim management of Brent Hills.
In February 2014, one month into Mark Sampson’s management, I was at home watching my individual performance clips on a Replay Analysis system that hosts a full video of England games. At the time, staff members wore microphones to communicate amongst themselves.
Whilst watching the game I clearly heard staff members Lee Kendall (Goalkeeper coach) and Naomi Datson (Former Sport scientist) discussing me on the microphones. Whilst I was on the ball, Naomi Datson could be heard saying “Her fitness results are good” and Lee Kendall replied “Yes but she is lazy as fuck”. Lee Kendall can also be heard later in the game shouting “Oh Fuck off Eni” after I gave possession of the ball away (“Replay Analysis incident”). I scored a goal and assisted in that particular match that finished 3-1 against Finland. No positive comments can be heard from either staff member at the time of either goal or assist.
Furthermore, Lee Kendall did not use such language about any other member of the team throughout the 90-minute match.
Although I am well accustomed to industrial language in football, I was shocked to hear inflammatory statements without any tactical or objective basis being used by England staff members during a match. I was also shocked that such language only seemed to have been used about me in a game where there was a balance of team errors and successes. More importantly, I was particularly surprised at the strong negative opinion formed by Lee Kendall only a month into the tenure of Mark Sampson, despite the context of me being in goal scoring form at the time with 6 goals in 6 International matches. I believed the inflammatory statements were inappropriate, unprofessional and unwarranted; and I felt as though I had been singled out for such treatment. Such comments were also accessible on Replay Analysis by the rest of my England teammates.
After hearing the comments, I had a meeting with Mark Sampson and informed him of what I had heard on Replay Analysis. I wanted to understand why such comments had been made. Mark Sampson explained that information had been shared between him and his staff that may have led to such comments being made, but did not elaborate on what this information was. This heightened my concern that preconceived negative perceptions had already been formed by Mark Sampson and some staff members despite my positive form for England at the time.
Lee Kendall and Naomi Datson later apologised to me in person for making the comments on the Replay Analysis forum. I accepted the apology.
Unfortunately, however, this negative incident set the tone for the rest of my experience as an England player under Mark Sampson between 2014-2016, despite the high quality and standard of my statistics/performances throughout the 2-year period. 5
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The Replay Analysis incident was the first of a non-exhaustive list of specific negative incidents I cited in an 8-page report (“Culture Review Report”) to Dan Ashworth in May 2016 as part of the Culture Review he had commissioned.
In the interests of time, I will not list all of the other incidents I reported here in this statement, but my full Culture Review Report can be found at Appendix 3. I am open to answering questions from the committee on any specific part of this report.
International goal statistics and domestic honours during Mark Sampson’s tenure as manager of the England teams 40.
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As detailed in Appendix 4, between 2014-2016 I scored 15 goals in 16 starts under Mark Sampson’s management. At the end of 2014, I had scored 17 goals in 23 England appearances and ended the World Cup qualifying campaign as the top scorer in Europe with 13 goals.
Domestically, in 2014 I was nominated in second place in the PFA Players’ Player of the Year Awards. In 2015, I won Chelsea FC Player of the Year and was also voted London Player of the Year after winning the league and FA Cup double with Chelsea. In 2016, I won the Golden Boot for the highest number of goals scored in the WSL and was recently was voted into the PFA Team of the Year in June 2017. Notwithstanding the considerable difficulties and challenges I have experienced, my commitment to the sport I love has never wavered and I have continued to train hard and perform to the best of my ability.
Bullying and racism allegations 43.
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The select committee will know that my Culture Review Report formed the basis of an FA internal investigation in August 2016, and a further investigation carried out by barrister Katharine Newton ending in March 2017.
My Culture Review Report cited a series of incidents that I believe demonstrated inappropriate, unprofessional and targeted behaviour towards me by Mark Sampson and members of his staff, exemplifying actions of bullying within the England team culture. Bullying, as I understand it from an ordinary view, is targeted repeated negative behaviour towards an individual(s) with the intention to hurt, isolate, offend, intimidate or undermine, physically, mentally or emotionally. I believe the collection of incidents I listed in the report for Dan Ashworth’s Cultural Review match the above definition of bullying.
I believe that such repeated negative actions towards an individual, whether in an educational, work or sporting setting, would be deemed as bullying; and that bullying in the context of a football environment should not be defined or regarded any differently. 6
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My Culture Review Report also included an incident in October 2015 at the China Cup concerning my Chelsea teammate Drew Spence. Drew had informed me that Mark Sampson addressed her in a midfielders’ meeting to ask her directly: “How many times have you been arrested? 4 times isn’t it?” (“Arrest Comment”). I believe the Arrest Comment was a negative prejudicial comment made by Mark Sampson to Drew Spence because of her mixed race ethnicity. Drew Spence was the only non-white player in that meeting and has never been arrested. The China Cup was also Drew Spence’s first senior international call up.
Drew Spence confirmed the Arrest Comment in a text message exchange with me within a few hours of the midfielders’ meeting. This text message exchange has been submitted as contemporaneous evidence to barrister Katherine Newton as part of the recent reopening of her investigation. A statement from Drew Spence has also been provided to the FA to corroborate my original complaint with respect to the Arrest Comment. In the same text message exchange, I informed Drew Spence that this was not the first time such an offensive comment had been made by Mark Sampson that I believed was related to race/ethnicity. I informed Drew Spence that Mark Sampson had said in 2014 that my family should “make sure they don’t come over with Ebola” prior to an England game v Germany at Wembley (“Ebola Comment”). Evidence of both the Arrest and Ebola Comments was available to the FA during the investigations but was not requested or taken into account. Drew Spence was not interviewed during the investigations despite Katharine Newton acknowledging her attendance and identity in video footage of the China Cup meeting. Katharine Newton, in her report, acknowledged that she could “see the player” during the video, demonstrating that she clearly knew the identity of the player I had complained on behalf of, yet had chosen not to interview her about the incident. At least two other players who were present in the meeting when the Arrest Comment was made were also not interviewed.
I am disappointed that the FA has publicly blamed me for the failure to interview Drew Spence as a key witness. I understand that the FA media and communications officer, Robert Sullivan, has repeatedly stated to journalists that I refused to name Drew Spence as a witness. I believe that this is deliberately misleading and disingenuous. Whilst I did not provide Drew’s name in my Culture Review Report it would have been clear from my description of the incident who I was referring to as the victim of the racially offensive remark. In subsequent meetings with Dan Ashworth and Rachel Brace, I suggested that it would be up to the FA to enquire as to Drew’s willingness to be interviewed as part of the investigations. Drew Spence has since confirmed to the FA that she expected to be contacted. FA chairman Greg Clarke has also recently stated that players did not come forward or refused to give evidence. I understand that at least two current England players present in the room at the time of the Arrest Comment were not aware of the investigations so could not refuse to be part of something of which they were not aware.
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It is concerning that the FA has sought to blame me and other England players to excuse their shortcomings in choosing not to interview key witnesses. In particular, they elected not to interview the person they knew was the victim of a racist comment I had complained about. That I did not name Drew in my Culture Review Report does not alter the fact that the FA and Katharine Newton plainly knew who she was, knew she was the player concerned, and yet chose not to interview her about my complaint of racially offensive behaviour on the part of the England manager. My evidence regarding the Ebola Comment was referenced in a legal letter to the FA in November 2016 (see Appendix 5), but was not requested by the FA legal team. Given the particularly serious nature of my complaints, the November 2016 letter was copied to FA Chairman Greg Clarke and Chief Executive Martin Glenn in an email. We felt that it was entirely appropriate to include the Chairman and Chief Executive of the FA in the email. However, Greg Clarke replied in an email about my complaint: “I’ve no idea why you are sending me this. Perhaps you could enlighten me?” I found the dismissive and disrespectful tone of Greg Clarke’s response to my complaints extraordinary. I submit to the committee that Greg Clarke’s response, as the ultimate leader of the organisation, is reflective of the unprofessional, disrespectful and dismissive attitude of senior members of the FA in relation to my grievances. I would further question whether Greg Clarke would take the same attitude to such serious grievances if they involved a senior male England player with 102 caps? I am aware that an investigation into a comment made to Andros Townsend by former men’s England manager Roy Hodgson was completed within 24 hours of speaking to every player in the room. Roy Hodgson had referred to Andros Townsend as a “monkey” in a ‘joke’.
The specific incidents that I cited in the Culture Review Report were addressed in Katharine Newton’s summary report (See Appendix 6). Mark Sampson did not deny that any of the incidents I cited in the report had occurred, except for the Arrest Comment.
Mark Sampson has also denied making the Ebola Comment, although there appears to have been very little investigation of this. The PFA’s letter made express reference to Mark Sampson joking about Ebola in relation to my family. I understand that the explanation given by Mark Sampson to Katharine Newton was that he had joked about Ebola with me, when I had mentioned someone pronouncing my name incorrectly, but that was all he could recall. I understand that he was not questioned any further on any comments about Ebola related to my family, despite the terms of my complaint. The answer that Mark Sampson gave to Katharine Newton in response to the Ebola question was included in an unpublished part of her report, which I had never seen until it was recently provided to me by a journalist, to whom the FA had provided a copy. I also note that Mark Sampson gave a different account of the Ebola issue in a press conference prior to his dismissal as England manager. When asked by Guardian journalist Daniel Taylor whether there had been any conversation between him and me regarding Ebola, over which there may have been a misunderstanding, Mark Sampson said: “I can’t remember any particular conversation.” I am confident the committee will draw its own conclusions from these inconsistent and conflicting accounts. 8
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I also draw the committee’s attention to the fact that I had emailed Mark Sampson personally in September 2017 to request further detail regarding the reasons for my non-selection, particularly given that I was top scorer in the WSL at the time. Mark Sampson never responded to my email and recently stated in a press conference that he did not respond because of the “ongoing investigations”. I believe this is yet further evidence of discrimination and victimisation, and again conflicts with press statements that Mark Sampson issued prior to his dismissal, in which he said he was willing to talk to me about what I needed to do to get back into the squad. The reality is that I was frozen out. I believe that the Arrest Comment and the Ebola Comment both related to race and were not properly investigated. This gives rise to serious concerns on my part around the process of investigation by the FA of alleged racism, or racially offensive remarks, by the England women’s team manager. Furthermore, I believe there are stark differences between the FA’s approach to investigations and disciplinary processes relating to alleged racist comments made by players on the field of play, and the alleged racist comments I complained about by Mark Sampson as England manager. I hope that the committee addresses these differences in the course of today’s hearing.
Dan Ashworth’s Culture Review and my non-selection for the England team 64.
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It is imperative that I share the context and timeline in which my Culture Review Report was written and sent to Dan Ashworth, as well as the subsequent events that led to the investigations into my grievances and my appearance in front of the committee today. (Summary timeline Appendix 7)
In February 2016, England had a tournament at the She Believes Cup in the USA. At the beginning of the tournament I had 98 caps and I knew that there was a prospect I could achieve 100 caps in one of the 3 games in the tournament.
In the Culture Review Report, I cited concerns about the inconsistent approach taken by Mark Sampson in dealing with my 100-cap game. Mark Sampson had informed other England centurions in good time when they would be achieving the 100 cap milestone. This was consistent and standard practice for other centurions under Mark Sampson’s management. However, I do not believe I received the same treatment when it came to my 100-cap game, and was made to feel undeserving of one of the greatest achievements an international footballer could hope to achieve.
Mark Sampson and the FA have since suggested that I demanded to start in the team for my 100-cap game. They have also suggested that I was asking Mark Sampson to depart from selection principles to select the best team based on merit. Both suggestions are incorrect. I simply requested to know the likelihood of my playing any part in the last game of the She Believes Cup, so that I could tell my family to make any arrangements to be there for the special achievement. This was standard practice amongst my teammates. 9
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With regard to meritorious selection principles, this was a source of confusion for me and other players because Mark Sampson often selected players for England who were carrying injuries, or who had not played very much for their club teams during the season. Despite this, I always respected Mark Sampson’s prerogative and remit to make selection decisions.
The 100-cap incident was one of the last of several negative individual experiences directly related to me over the course of Mark Sampson’s 2-year tenure, prior to my removal from the England set-up. It is fair to say that I felt emotionally exhausted and demoralised at that point, although I continued to give my all for the team, both in training and in matches. I briefly spoke with Dan Ashworth whilst in the USA about meeting when we got back to London, in order to discuss my longstanding concerns about Mark Sampson’s management of me in the England team. Unfortunately, this meeting never materialised. In May 2016, two months after the She Believes Cup, I received a letter sent on behalf of Dan Ashworth, asking me to participate as an “iconic England player” in an England ‘DNA culture review’ about my experiences and identity as an England player. (Appendix 8)
In May 2016, I was asked to do a phone interview with Owen Eastwood, an external consultant retained to conduct the Culture Review interviews. The letter did not inform me that the interview would be strictly confidential and my feedback would be anonymous. However Owen Eastwood assured me on the telephone that my responses were confidential and anonymous.
As requested, I spoke with Owen Eastwood on the telephone, answering a series of questions relating to my experiences as an England player and my identity as a Black British female in the team. Other questions related to my views on the general culture of the England women’s team.
I did not ask why a Cultural Review was being conducted at the time. I felt it was a positive exercise and an opportunity for me to share what I was already anxious to discuss in person with Dan Ashworth. I was completely honest about all of my experiences, both good and bad, over the course of 2 years under Mark Sampson’s management. I expressed that I felt the negative experiences discussed in the interview outweighed the positive ones. I did not believe any senior England international should feel as demoralised as I did at that time.
The phone interview with Owen Eastwood lasted approximately 45 minutes, who suggested that I should write down the experiences and concerns I had discussed in the interview and submit them confidentially to Dan Ashworth, as Mark Sampson’s line manager. Twelve days after this telephone interview with Owen Eastwood, on 23 May 2016 I was visited by Mark Sampson at Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham (“Cobham meeting”). Mark Sampson was also visiting other Chelsea players and the Chelsea management that day.
I was expecting a conversation regarding my involvement with the next England camp. Six weeks prior to the Cobham meeting, I had been part of an 10
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England camp with games against Belgium and Bosnia respectively. I came on against Belgium with 20 minutes to go and was pleased to contribute to the team equalising in the last 5 minutes of the game. I then played 90 minutes against Bosnia that ended in a 1-0 win. I believed I had made a positive contribution to the camp.
Throughout the 10 day Bosnia/Belgium camp I was never approached or spoken to by Mark Sampson or other members of staff about my behaviour or attitude during the camp. I was, as always, fully committed to doing my best for the team. I did have a conversation with Adam Streeter, Lane 4 team development leader, about my feelings (including being disappointed at the way my 100-caps milestone had been handled in the previous camp), but I was keen to do draw a line under that issue, do my job and perform well for the team. Mark Sampson had also stated that he was keen on moving forward from the 100-caps situation.
I was therefore extremely shocked to hear from Mark Sampson in the Cobham meeting that I was being dropped from the England squad for “un-lioness behaviour” and a bad attitude in the previous camp. I repeatedly asked Mark Sampson to cite specific examples of my supposed “un-lioness behaviour” and bad attitude in the previous camp; he stated that he felt I had looked withdrawn in meetings, but didn’t explain what he meant by this. He also stated that he felt my behaviour differed depending on whether I was in the starting line up or not, but again failed to elaborate on what he meant by this. This comment also confused me, given that I had been a substitute in the first game against Belgium and was then effectively promoted to the starting line-up for the next game against Bosnia (after I had come on for the final 20 minutes of the Belgium match). My approach to both matches, in terms of my preparation and commitment to doing my best for the team, was equally professional. I do not believe there were any examples of a bad attitude or bad behaviour during the Bosnia/Belgium camp. I exhibited no behaviour that was substantially different to any other member of the team. I have never been given any performance, statistical or tactical reasons for my non-selection for the England team from May 2016 onwards.
Mark Sampson has recently suggested in media interviews that his selections, and in turn non-selections, are based on “what is best for the England team”. I take that as a suggestion that my presence in the team was deemed not to be in the best interests of the England team. I do not believe there was any legitimate basis for Mark Sampson to reach such a conclusion, taking into account the performances, teamwork and commitment I had demonstrated. I also note that Mark Sampson recently suggested that I was dropped because he “needed to pick the best players for the matches we face”, which plainly contradicts the “unlioness” behaviour explanation I was given at the time.
As part of the fall-out from the complaints I have raised, I am concerned that current England players have been encouraged and influenced to believe that I was a negative influence on the team. For example, I understand that Lane 4 hired a group of actors sometime last year after I was dropped from the England team, the purpose of which was ostensibly to role-play “Lioness standards” (which are an agreed code of conduct amongst the team, and something I adhered to at all times). I understand that one of the actresses was a black woman and that the pre-planned first role-play of the exercise involved 11
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this actress acting out bad behaviour and a selfish attitude in comparison to her teammates. I know that some England players were uncomfortable with this demonstration, because they believed the actress was perpetrating a negative and unfair perception of me. If this were an objective of the pre- planned exercise, this would constitute further evidence of a bullying and discriminatory culture.
The vague and unjustified reasoning given by Mark Sampson in the Cobham meeting, and the timing of the decision to drop me from the England team (i.e. twelve days after I had raised my complaints), led me to believe that there was a causal link between the grievances I had raised in the confidential Culture Review and being dropped from the England team for the first time in 11 years. The fact that, a short time prior to his dismissal by the FA, Mark Sampson gave conflicting reasons for dropping me from the squad to those he gave last year, provides yet further support for this conclusion. No evidence has ever been submitted by Dan Ashworth or the FA to disprove what I consider to be an obvious causal link between my grievances and my exclusion from the England team a little more than a week later. At the time I had 102 caps for England, I had been performing well, I was on course to be the top scorer in the WSL, and yet I was dropped from the England squad shortly after raising concerns of bullying and discrimination.
I emailed Dan Ashworth the day after the Cobham meeting to ask whether Mark Sampson was aware of my participation in the Culture Review and the grievances I had raised. Dan Ashworth suggested that there was no link between the two events, describing it as a coincidence. (Appendix 9). Dan Ashworth also assured me that my exclusion from the squad was ‘totally unrelated to the Culture review and will not affect selection in future squads’. I do not accept this on the basis that I have never been selected for England after this email from Dan Ashworth (Appendix 9(2) I believe that Mark Sampson had been made aware of the concerns I had expressed about his behaviour and conduct prior to the Cobham meeting; and that this resulted in my exclusion from the England squad.
On 2 June 2016, as requested by Dan Ashworth in his 26 May 2016 email (Appendix 9(2), I sent a written report to Dan Ashworth of the grievances I had raised in the Culture Review. Notwithstanding the seriousness of my complaints, Dan Ashworth did not respond to my email until August 2016. Dan Ashworth later claimed that he had not seen my 2 June 2016 email, which included my Culture Review Report at the time. However, I have been provided with no evidence to suggest that my email was not delivered to Dan Ashworth on the day it was sent, and I note that a PFA Executive, who was copied into the email, received it immediately. I consider that Dan Ashworth’s failure to respond to my serious complaints in a prompt, professional or reasonable manner is consistent with the way in which Greg Clarke was dismissive of my subsequent letter of complaint in November 2016 (described above). There was no independent grievance procedure through which I could express my concerns. I would submit that Dan Ashworth’s interest in protecting his recruit, Mark Sampson, from serious allegations regarding his treatment of me and others, conflicted with his duty to deal with my concerns confidentially, thoroughly and impartially. I believe the current grievance process (such as it is) is seriously inadequate. In my view, the detriments I have suffered (and 12
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continue to suffer) following the Culture Review in May 2016 further demonstrates the inadequacy of the FA grievance process.
I have not played for England since the Cobham meeting in May 2016, despite the strong objective performance statistics I cite above. Last season I won the WSL’s Golden Boot as the league’s top scorer yet, as a striker who scored more goals than any other English player, I was still not being picked for the national squad.
Investigations 88.
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On 18 August 2016, I had a meeting with Rachel Brace and Dan Ashworth to discuss the Culture Report and grievances that I had sent to Dan Ashworth in June 2016 (which he claimed not to have read at the time). Nick Cusack, Assistant Chief Executive of the PFA, accompanied me.
We discussed some of the grievances I had raised and the conclusion of the meeting was that the FA would internally investigate the grievances and discuss them with Mark Sampson. Nick Cusack suggested that it was for the FA to determine how to conduct that investigation. The PFA were non prescriptive about how the FA internal investigation should be investigated. I suggested that the FA speak to Lianne Sanderson and Anita Asante as witnesses who also had similar grievances about incidents that negatively isolated them in the England team. We also indicated that the Arrest Comment to Drew Spence might be on video, so the FA agreed to look into it.
A day after this meeting, on 19 August 2016, I received an email from Rachel Brace thanking me for the meeting and reiterating the FA’s intention to conduct an internal investigation. In the final paragraph of this email, Rachel Brace put me on notice that another investigation by the FA Integrity Unit had started into my consultancy role with a football agency. (Appendix 10)
This shocked me because I had received no prior information or contact from the FA integrity unit about their investigation. I did not understand why Rachel Brace as HR Director of the FA would be informing me of another investigation by the Integrity Unit, in the very same email, if the two investigations were not related. I responded by asking a series of questions about when and why the FA Integrity unit had started an investigation into my consultancy role, given that it had happened around the same time as I had raised serious allegations against the England manager. (Appendix 10)
Rachel Brace stated that she did not know details about this investigation, but that the FA Integrity Unit would be in contact with me about it. This raised serious suspicions on my part as to whether the Integrity Unit investigation was indeed genuinely separate, or an attempt to intimidate and/or punish me for raising bullying and discrimination allegations (in addition to being dropped from the England squad). The FA has never provided any evidence to prove that the Integrity Unit investigation was wholly separate from, and unrelated to, the complaints I had 13
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
raised regarding Mark Sampson’s conduct. The FA has, however, stated that the Integrity Unit investigation was launched or or around 9 August 2016 (Appendix 11) – i.e. around the time of the matters I have already referred to.
The FA has stated that a formal complaint was made about the football agency I was working for as a legal consultant at the time. The complaint allegedly related to illegal approaches of young football players by some of the agents working for the agency. I have not been provided with the identity of the complainant, a copy of the alleged complaint, confirmation of when the complaint was allegedly received by the FA, or told whether any allegations had been made against me personally. Prior to the Integrity Unit investigation in August 2016, to my knowledge no steps had been taken to investigate the football agency in question. By August 2016, I had been working for the football agency for six months. I stated on numerous occasions that I was not in breach of FA intermediary rules because I was not acting as an agent, but rather was working as a lawyer in a legal capacity for the agency (on a consultancy basis). I had no financial interest in the transfers of players either at the agency or at Chelsea FC and submitted this evidence to the Integrity Unit.
Notwithstanding this, the FA stated that I was in breach of intermediary regulations and that I had to surrender my role at the football agency or my role as a professional footballer at Chelsea FC. With regret, I decided to surrender my paid role at the football agency because I did not want to compromise my position with Chelsea and I understood that any appeal of an FA decision regarding the intermediary regulations would have to go through FA channels, in which I had lost faith and trust by that point. I do not believe that I would have been treated in this way had I not raised allegations of bullying and discrimination by Mark Sampson.
A second meeting took place with Rachel Brace and Dan Ashworth in September 2016. In that meeting, I was informed that the FA had conducted an internal investigation and had found no wrongdoing by Mark Sampson in respect of my Culture Review Report. Rachel Brace accepted that the FA had come to this conclusion without watching the video of the China Cup meeting – Dan Ashworth even commented to Rachel Brace that they should have done – and without speaking to at least one key witness, Lianne Sanderson, before reaching their conclusion. I was staggered by what appeared to be such a lax attempt at investigating my complaints. Nick Cusack at the PFA stated that he did not believe the FA should or could have reached a conclusion of no wrongdoing without considering key objective evidence or speaking to all relevant witnesses. I did not believe that my allegations had been taken seriously. I believe that the intention of Dan Ashworth and Rachel Brace was to clear Mark Sampson of wrongdoing without fully considering or investigating my allegations and the supporting evidence.
Katharine Newton investigation 98.
Following the initial rejection of my complaints regarding Mark Sampson’s conduct, the FA instructed a barrister, Katharine Newton, to carry out an investigation into my grievances. 14
99.
101.
102.
103.
104.
I was advised by a leading QC, Nick Randall, that this decision in itself, without my input or approval, could constitute a further act of discrimination in the circumstances of my case. I was also advised that such investigations paid for by the respondent institution would not be binding in an Employment Tribunal, where in such proceedings (unlike in a grievance investigation) relevant witnesses could be compelled by the Judge to give evidence under oath, and the respondent would be subject to duties of disclosure.
By this time I had completely lost faith in the FA’s handling of my grievance, and I decided that I wished to pursue my complaints before a fully independent Employment Tribunal. Katharine Newton did not speak to key witnesses before expressing a conclusion that the Arrest Comment had not been made, including the target and victim of the remark. In my view she also failed properly to investigate the Ebola Comment (as outlined above). I am pleased that Katharine Newton is currently assessing the evidence of contemporaneous text messages regarding the Arrest Comment and the Ebola Comment, and evidence provided by Drew Spence, and hope that her conclusions will be revisited and changed in light of this and other relevant evidence (including the inconsistent statements given by Mark Sampson to the media, as outlined above). I recently met with Katharine Newton at her request following the reopening of the investigation in light of Drew Spence’s evidence.
I am sure the committee will reach its own conclusions about the sufficiency of the investigations that resulted in my allegations of racially offensive remarks by Mark Sampson being rejected.
I am also aware that Martin Glenn has publicly stated that a key criterion for the appointment of Katharine Newton is the fact she is a black woman. I note this conflicts with the FA’s original stated position that any such suggestion was ridiculous; indeed, prior to Martin Glenn’s admission, the FA’s lawyers, Farrer & Co, had stated that such a suggestion was “plainly false”, and that Katharine Newton’s skin colour had been “utterly irrelevant” to her appointment. In my view, the FA’s decision to appoint somebody on the basis of their skin colour was wholly inappropriate, and provides yet further evidence of a resounding lack of understanding and appreciation of principles of equality and non-discrimination. It is also worrying that the FA authorised its lawyers to refute this allegation in the strongest of terms, in circumstances where the FA’s Chief Executive Officer would have known that this denial was false.
FA actions post Daily Mail publication 105.
106.
When the story about me originally broke in the Daily Mail in early August 2017, the FA released a statement which, as part of our settlement agreement, it was agreed they could release should matters come into the public domain.
The settlement agreement also allowed me to comment on matters should they come into the public domain, yet I chose to issue only a brief statement at the time and said very little else. 15
107.
108.
109.
110.
However, matters became increasingly public when The Guardian ran a further story a week or so later. At this time, numerous journalists were asking me for comment. I started to become concerned that by not responding to these queries, people may draw their own conclusions on the matter without knowing or understanding my account of what had gone on. As a result, I instructed my solicitors to seek written confirmation from the FA as to my ability to speak about the case, without being accused of breaching the terms of the settlement agreement. The FA provided this confirmation and, it seems, were happy to do so as it removed any suggestion I had been paid “hush money”.
Throughout this time, the FA was providing additional information to journalists in order to, in my view, present a one-sided view of the case and to protect its own image. This included the leak of my alleged ‘refusal’ to name Drew Spence and the leak of the previously unpublished Katharine Newton report, in which she had asked Mark Sampson one question about the Ebola comment. The FA had not even provided me or the PFA with Katharine Newton’s full report into allegations I had raised – I had only previously been provided with a summary – and yet they were providing extracts of the full report to journalists without even having the courtesy to inform me. Again, I found this behaviour extraordinary. As referred to above, when I met the FA at their request in order that both parties could seek clarification from the other on matters that were now in the public domain, and in circumstances where the FA was unjustifiably withholding the final instalment of the agreed settlement sum, it was suggested to me by Martin Glenn that if I issued a public statement confirming that I did not believe the FA to be institutionally racist, then it was likely that payment could be made. I believe this request / demand was unwarranted and unreasonable. The FA agreed to a settlement of my Employment Tribunal claims, which it is now apparently seeking to resile from. This is yet another example of the detrimental treatment I have been subjected to.
Dismissal of Mark Sampson 111.
The FA’s stated position is that the recent dismissal of Mark Sampson had nothing whatsoever to do with the media scrutiny and publicity that has arisen in respect of my complaints, and the FA’s response to them. Personally, I believe this to be highly questionable. I understand that the conduct for which Mark Sampson was dismissed, according to the FA, was known to the FA in 2014 and investigated by the FA’s Safeguarding Unit at that time. I anticipate the committee will draw its own conclusions with respect to the timing of, and reasons for, Mark Sampson’s dismissal by the FA in September 2017. 16
Concluding remarks 112.
113.
114.
I am someone who was, and still is, incredibly proud to have represented England 102 times. It is disappointing, yet inevitable, that any sporting career will come to an end. However, in this case I genuinely believe that my international football career was brought to a premature and unjustified end by Mark Sampson and the FA, as a result of me raising concerns in what I believed to be a confidential exercise, over a culture of bullying, and bringing to the FA’s attention racially offensive remarks made by Mark Sampson. Had I not raised these genuine and legitimate concerns, I am sure that I would have added to my 102 international caps.
I also consider that the FA’s investigations into the complaints I raised have been a shambles and inadequate, for the reasons I have outlined above. They initially supported Mark Sampson and, as the case developed, backed themselves into a corner with that decision, until in my view the adverse media publicity became too great and he was dismissed.
I hope that this select committee process is a catalyst for fundamental change within the FA with respect to independent grievance and whistleblowing procedures, so that others do not have to endure the experiences I have endured.
Eniola Aluko
Appendices
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/culture-media-andsport/SPG%2002%20Eniola%20Aluko%20attachments_Redacted.pdf
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