FA Chair Greg Clarke defended the sacking of England women's team Manager Mark Sampson as a move that "should have been made three or four years ago," according to Paul Hayward of the London TELEGRAPH. Clarke dismissed claims that his organization wanted to "nobble" the investigation into Sampson's "controversial comments to Eni Aluko and other black players." The FA's internal inquiry into the Aluko case "has resumed, but Clarke insists the first investigation, which cleared Sampson of wrongdoing, was not compromised." He also declined to blame FA Technical Dir Dan Ashworth for "allegedly overlooking claims" about Sampson's "inappropriate" and "unacceptable" relationships with female players at Bristol Academy -- now Bristol City Women. In the first interview by a senior FA exec since Sampson’s dismissal, Clarke said, "When you get to the point where the new chairman and the new chief executive find out something that wasn’t shared with the board a long time ago [details of Sampson’s time in Bristol], do you think -- that’s a shame, we’d have done something if we’d known, or do you make a decision? [FA CEO] Martin [Glenn] said, 'Look, I found this out yesterday.' I said, 'Right, what do you think?' He told me, I agreed with him and we had a board conference call. We sent out some papers, we asked some questions about legalities, facts, what happened when. And we made a decision." Clarke "was sanguine about the tide of disorder that has washed across his desk." In 12 months, he has overseen the sackings of men's team Manager Sam Allardyce and Sampson, "pushed through FA structural reforms," approved a new £100M ($132.4M) TV deal for the FA Cup, "championed diversity and, most harrowingly, toured the country to discuss the child sex abuse scandal." He said, "I think I’d been in my office for four days when the Sam Allardyce issue blew up, and I was thinking, 'Crumbs, will I last the first week?'" (TELEGRAPH, 10/2).
DRAWING A BLANK: Hayward also reported the FA's attempts to make contact with gay professional footballers have drawn a blank, with "not one" willing to meet Clarke, "even in secret or anonymously." On his tour of the national game, Clarke managed to speak to a black manager who said that people in football from his ethnic background could "forget" about being hired if they earned a reputation for being "difficult." Race "proved an easier subject" for the FA chair to discuss than sexuality, "with current non-heterosexual players in the men’s professional game preferring not to be open about their sexuality" in a sport where there is thought to be "a higher than average chance of hostility or derision." Clarke said, "I understand the reticence. I went to the women's cup final. It was great. There was gay, there was straight, there were kids, it was relaxed. It was like a big wedding reception. I had a great time. ... I've met a lot of gay activists, gay publishers. I went down to Stonewall, watched a game, had a beer in the bar afterwards -- and talked about the issues. At the semi-pro level and below, nobody’s worried. I haven’t met one player at professional level who would even agree to meet me in the middle of nowhere for a conversation over a cup of coffee. Not one" (TELEGRAPH, 10/3).
