REAL SCANDAL OF ALUKO’S CASE IS THE WASTED CASH
Can you imagine the alarm at the Fa the day the complaint from Eni aluko dropped? Here was a black woman alleging bullying and racism by her manager, a white man and an Fa employee. In an organisation that positively aches to be seen to do the right thing, this was British Cycling and Luis aragones rolled into one: a PR PC disaster. The Fa held an internal investigation and also commissioned an independent inquiry, conducted by a barrister, Katharine newton of Old Square Chambers. newton is black, female and a respected expert in employment law. She supported the Fa’s investigators in finding no cause for disciplinary action against Mark Sampson, England Women’s manager. Yet such was the Fa’s desire to avoid a scandal, they compensated aluko anyway: £80,000 to ‘avoid disruption’ before this summer’s European Championship, and a £20,000 one-year contract with the national team despite aluko stating she could not play for Sampson again. The Fa denies it was hush money, although it is hard to justify it any other way. Yet newton was right. The case against Sampson appears extraordinarily flimsy. The bullying amounted to a coach describing aluko as ‘lazy as f***’ during a video analysis, and another coach exclaiming ‘f*** off, Eni’ when she lost possession. If every coach who spoke that way about his players was dismissed for bullying, dug-outs would empty overnight. This is the blunt, industrial language that is part of all sports. Sir Bobby Charlton recalls being halfway through calling George Best a greedy bastard for hogging the ball when the northern Irishman scored one of the best goals he had ever seen. It happens. Between team-mates, between colleagues, even between friends. and it’s an opinion. England’s coaching staff are perfectly entitled to have a view of aluko and if this is that she’s ‘lazy as f***’, then it’s their call. She might wish to do more to change their minds, rather than claim to be bullied. The accusation of racism is harder to judge, not being in the room. But then neither was aluko, so here goes. aluko says that during a meeting with the midfielders, in which she was not present, Sampson made a point about pressing hard, using an analogy about getting cautioned by the police. Turning to a player, who was mixed race, he said: ‘Haven’t you been arrested before? Four times isn’t it?’ aluko claims the remark was ‘highly inappropriate’ and there were ‘derogatory racial and prejudicial connotations’ due to the player being mixed race. She said the comment was not received as a joke and created an awkward atmosphere. Certainly it sounds clumsy, no matter the ethnicity of the player. Yet England’s problem at the European Championship was technique, not team spirit. The players seemed very loyal to Sampson, and it is interesting that none have come out in public support of aluko since her grievances went public — unlike the backing for cyclist Jess Varnish, when she made her complaint against Shane Sutton. as aluko was not in the meeting, her reading of the mood and the way the comment was delivered and received are all second hand. It could have been a poor joke, or a ham-fisted attempt to lighten the mood. One imagines if Sampson routinely accused his players of being criminals, he would not find them as faithful. It also transpires the Fa received aluko’s eightpage letter of complaint as part of an exercise to gather information about the culture within England’s squads. It was sent to technical director Dan ashworth and head of performance Dave Reddin. Too busy by half, that pair. Managing England is tough enough, without your bosses conducting a vox pop on your mentoring skills. So the Fa got an answer they were not expecting, and panicked. Ultimately, there is little evidence here of bullying or racism, but there is a case for misuse of funds. Barristers do not come cheap, and newton’s verdict should have been the end of it. Whoever then authorised £100,000 to keep aluko quiet shouldn’t be let near a budget again.
DOES the photograph of David Beckham and his newly-assembled Lego Disney Castle suggest a bloke with too much time on his hands? Yes, it’s for his daughter, Harper, who is six — but isn’t the point that she at least helps build it? Someone give this man a job.