FA charges Sampson for ‘racist’ remark

Complaint made against Stevenage caretaker Club investigation found he had no case to answer

The Football Association has charged Mark Sampson, the former England Women’s manager, with making an allegedly racist comment after becoming caretaker manager at Stevenage.

Sampson, who took interim charge at the Hertfordshire club in September, is accused of making the remark about a player during a conversation about transfer targets.

The investigation against the 37-year-old Welshman comes after he was sacked by England in September 2017 following allegations of “inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour” while manager at Bristol Academy. He had also been the focus of bullying and racism claims, first made by Eni Aluko and then Drew Spence. The FA said those allegations were investigated and Sampson was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The fresh charges relating to his time at Stevenage come after the club had cleared him of wrongdoing. “It is alleged that a comment made by the Stevenage FC caretaker manager breached FA Rule E3(1) as it was improper and/or abusive and/or insulting,” said the FA charge. “It is further alleged that the comment also constitutes an

Accused: Mark Sampson is alleged to have made the comment about a transfer target ‘aggravated breach’, which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as it referenced ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race and/or nationality.”

The FA said he had until Dec 6 to respond to the charge. Sampson replaced Dino Maamria at Stevenage, with club chairman Phil Wallace backing him to become their permanent manager despite the club being bottom of the fourth tier.

Stevenage said in September that an internal investigation into the matter had found that there was no case for Sampson to answer.

The club said at the time that the allegation was reported to the FA by phone “by a former coach the day after he was told by Sampson that he no longer required his services at the club”.

Wallace had said: “Like every professional club, no matter where the complaint comes from, we follow strict procedures, which were followed to the letter.

“The claimant was offered the chance to make a formal complaint but declined this opportunity, instead choosing to call the FA. Nevertheless, CEO Alex Tunbridge acted immediately to interview and take statements from two individuals the claimant said were witnesses. In each case the witnesses did not support the allegations.”

Sampson took interim charge of the club on Sept 9 after the sacking of Maamria. He had reached a financial settlement with the FA over his dismissal as England manager in January this year, conceding he should have handled the claims differently, saying it would always be a “big regret” and apologising unreservedly to the two players.