Inappropriate unacceptable ... and sacked

England women’s manager axed

ENGLAND women’s football manager Mark Sampson was sacked yesterday over “unacceptable and inappropriate behaviour”.

His departure came the day after he celebrated with his team when they beat Russia 6-0 in a World Cup tie.

Sampson was fighting racism and bullying allegations by England striker Eni Aluko, but got the boot over his time as manager of Bristol Academy.

FA chief executive Martin Glenn said “a line had been crossed”, but refused to say if Sampson had been involved in a sexual relationship with a player. He stressed no laws had been broken.

Sampson, 34, was not deemed a “safeguarding risk” after an FA probe into the original allegations in 2014.

The Welshman was also cleared of two separate discrimination claims by England players earlier this year.

Mr Glenn said: “It’s about Mark’s conduct at Bristol. We believe he breached his professional boundaries.”

He admitted he knew about the claims two years ago but was urged recently to look again at the probe by “anonymous sources”. He had the final report before England’s World Cup tie, but let Sampson continue in charge.

QUESTIONS

Minister for Sport Tracey Crouch hit out: “This situation is a mess and raises very serious questions about whether the historic processes that the FA had in place around the recruitment of coaches were appropriate, for something like this to have been missed.” Mr Glenn added: “It is the most awkward and complicated issue I have ever dealt with. It is a different issue to the Eni Aluko allegations.”

Senior FA executives are set to face a parliamentary inquiry over the most recent investigations. The affair heaps fresh embarrassment on the FA, which is carrying out a separate inquiry into historical child abuse in football spanning decades.

Other high-profile episodes include the sacking of England manager Sam Allardyce, who was axed after one match in charge. Sampson, from Cardiff, joined Bristol Academy – now called Bristol City Women – in 2009 and became first-team manager in 2011. He became England manager in 2013. He had a training ground bust-up with England player Lucy Bronze last week, but all seemed forgotten after the team won 6-0 on Tuesday night.

Situation is a mess and raises some very serious questions about FA TRACEY CROUCH MINISTER FOR SPORT

BOSS’S WOES Sampson & Lucy Bronze training row PROBE Eni Aluko made racism and bullying claim CELEBRATING Sampson with team after 6-0 win