‘Head of FA tried to buy my silence on racism’
England star accuses FA boss over racism
ENGLAND star Eni Aluko has accused an FA chief of a blackmail attempt over football racism.
A TOP England women’s player has accused the FA of blackmailing her over the football race scandal.
Eni Aluko claimed chief executive Martin Glenn said the FA would release a payout if she said it was not “institutionally racist”.
Aluko, 30, made the claim to MPs during a parliamentary inquiry after sacked England manager Mark Sampson was found to have racially abused her and teammate Drew Spence.
The FA was earlier forced to issue a humiliating apology after a probe decided Sampson had told Aluko to ensure her Nigerian relatives did not bring Ebola to a match at Wembley.
It also decided that Sampson had also asked her Chelsea team-mate Spence how many times she had been arrested. Aluko told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee about the FA withholding part of an £80,000 settlement earlier this year.
She said: “I had one meeting with Martin Glenn and he said if I wrote a statement that the FA is not institutionally racist, they would release the payment. I believed that bordered on blackmail.”
Mr Glenn later refuted the claim. Asked if he categorically denied asking Aluko to write a statement clearing the FA of institutional racism, Glenn replied: “Yes.”