By Daily Sports on August 22, 2017

Footballer Eniola Aluko has spoken publicly for the first time about the "bullying and discrimination" she says she was subjected to by England head coach Mark Sampson.

In her first broadcast interview since details of the controversy emerged earlier this month, the Chelsea Ladies striker - who has 102 caps and scored 33 goals for her country - told the BBC:

She was dropped by England just days after she had made allegations against Sampson having been asked by the Football Association to be part of a review - and suffered "victimisation as a result of me reporting discrimination".

Sampson made what she says was a "racist comment" about her family in Nigeria being infected with the Ebola virus that left her "shocked and intimidated". The FA said this allegation arose in informal correspondence and was not included in her complaint. Sampson vehemently denies saying this.

Two investigations into her grievances were "flawed" because key witnesses were not spoken to and key evidence not looked at.

Last year, a three-month independent investigation did not uphold any of Aluko's complaints and cleared Sampson and the FA of any wrongdoing."If anybody, God forbid, was going through something difficult in the team right now, would they speak out? Judging on what's happened to me over the last few weeks? I don't think they would.

On Monday, the FA strongly denied Aluko's claims, insisting the timing of her being dropped was purely coincidental and that all evidence given to the review remained confidential and anonymous.

It also pointed out that Aluko, 30, failed to co-operate with the independent investigation, and another witness withdrew from the process.

When asked by the BBC why she refused to participate with the investigation, Aluko said: "I couldn't take it seriously. I knew they hadn't spoken to key people."

Last week, the governing body published a summary of the report's findings, in the form of a letter sent to Aluko, written by the barrister who conducted the review.

"I do not consider Mark Sampson held a longstanding negative bias against you based on negative racial stereotypes," it said. "Nor do I consider he subjected you to a course of bullying or belittling behaviour."

But it added there were a "number of areas where certain matters could have been handled better" and cited poor communication.

Sampson said he would be looking to improve his "general communication style", as suggested by the report.

Sampson, 34, is arguably England's most successful boss, guiding the Lionesses to the semi-finals of both the 2015 World Cup and Euro 2017.

Chelsea's Aluko has scored 33 international goalsAluko says she made her complaint of "bullying, harassment and discrimination" in May 2016 having been asked to participate in a cultural review of all England teams by the FA's technical director Dan Ashworth.

Aluko - a qualified lawyer - claimed that during a meeting in 2015, Sampson made a "highly inappropriate remark" with "derogatory, racial and prejudicial connotations" to an unnamed player, asking how many times she had been arrested because she was of mixed race.

However, the independent review found no evidence to support that allegation and a video of the meeting did not show the comment being said.

Aluko now claims the player has confirmed in writing that the incident happened, but the FA "chose not to speak to the player herself which I think is astonishing". The FA countered that Aluko has refused to name the player.

In her original complaint, Aluko said the decision to drop her from the squad was "retaliatory action" for the concerns she raised.

However, the review concluded she had not been singled out.Aluko - who has not been selected for England since making her complaint - reached a settlement with the FA, receiving around £80,000. The FA said this was to avoid the threat of an employment tribunal disrupting the squad's preparations for Euro 2017, rather than an attempt to avoid disclosure, and has insisted that Aluko was free to discuss the facts of the case.

•Photo shows Eniola Aluko.

Source Daily Sports

Posted August 22, 2017

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