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Eni Aluko, Mark Sampson and the FA

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    Eni Aluko, Mark Sampson and the FA

    https://www.theguardian.com/football...-sampson-ebola

    #2
    One of them is lying. And I struggle to see the motivation for one of the parties to be doing so.

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      #3
      She got paid £80k as hush money but then some things have happened which means she's allowed to.

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        #4
        Like the FA repeating that the hush money wasn't hush money and that it didn't prevent from talking. I'm not sure which page of the crisis management manual this pearler of an idea came from.

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          #5
          Loooking at how an odious prick like Malky Mackay has been forgiven and booted upstairs, I wouldn't be surprised if Sampson is given a similar administrative role in the English FA after a decent period of faux ostracism. He was a success, can't just discard that knowledge, the pliant hacks argue. But he surely can't last in his current job till the end of the month.

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            #6
            I dunno. Two unwise remarks. The ebola one was thoughtless and rude but I can see why someone might say it without thinking how it would affect someone - it's a flippant comment.

            The police joke is worse but only if the person involved hasn't been in trouble with the police because then it looks like profiling. If she has been arrested 4 times then it was poor taste singling her out. But it's telling the paper won't name the player at the player's request.

            There's a story here because the FA paid Aluko off. She was willing to take the money and held off going public til after the Euros.

            There might be a racist culture at the FA and that might include Mark Sampson. I don't know. But I'm not convinced by what's been reported.

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              #7
              Well, yes, it's telling that The Player (who can clearly be identified by narrowing it down) doesn't want to have her England career abruptly halted as Aluko clearly feels hers was (and Lianne Sanderson's) as a result of speaking out.

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                #8
                Except she's not in the England squad any more according to the article. Not sure what she gains by keeping quiet. Unless she has been arrested and she'd rather it not be discussed in the papers, which is understandable. She might not appreciate Aluko dragging her into this.

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                  #9
                  I have sympathies for her, of course, and believe much of her account: both comments are pretty stupid and offensive. But accepting a pay-off of any description weakens her position - if not her argument - significantly.

                  It seems undeniable that there remains this supposedly 'unwitting' culture within the FA, which frankly should've been wiped out years ago.

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                    #10
                    It's not hard to figure out who the player is from the clues Aluko gives. To the point where one wonders why Aluko didn't simply tell the FA who it was meant to be.

                    Over the weekend this appeared on the BBC website. That is Aluko, Sanderson and Asante, all possessing 50+ caps, and all apparently discarded when aged 30 or younger since Sampson took charge. These three do share a common trait... To check whether there is confirmation bias one would have to sift through which other established players have seen their careers end by a means other than retirement in the same time. None are particularly springing to mind, I must say.

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                      #11
                      Yes, that curtailing of the international careers of experienced talented players for reasons not related to their playing performance was the thing that struck me most reading through the article. That and the idea of allegations not being investigated fairly.

                      The individual incidents/comments themselves might be telling, but they aren't the main story for my money. It's in the same vein as the culture of sexism within the British Cycling organisation. The important issue that needed addressing was the inadequate support given to female elite athletes and the general ways in which they have been treated and recognised. The thing that made the newspapers were Shane Sutton's alleged comments about pregnancy and bottoms - which was of course inexcusable and cost him his job - but the problems went much deeper than that.

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                        #12
                        Rachel Yankey - left out of Sampson's first squad in 2013.

                        Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                        Except she's not in the England squad any more according to the article. Not sure what she gains by keeping quiet. Unless she has been arrested and she'd rather it not be discussed in the papers, which is understandable. She might not appreciate Aluko dragging her into this.
                        A previous report in the Guardian quoted Aluko as saying "It was also a defamatory, untrue statement given that [The Player] has never been arrested"

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                          #13
                          Watching the England Woman's team it did seem remarkably white, given what I've seen of say the Arsenal team over the years.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Antepli Ejderha View Post
                            She got paid £80k as hush money but then some things have happened which means she's allowed to.
                            She was never given hush money.

                            Aluko raised issues of racism in an internal culture review. She was then victimised, and sacked, and sued for unfair dismissal. She then settled out of court with the FA for £80k. The FA, when accused of paying hush money, said they gave it to Aluko so as "not to disrupt preparations for the Euros" and that Sampson had been fully cleared (with the unstated implication that Aluko was lying).

                            Quite right that she's now on the warpath.

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                              #15
                              She goes into this in much more detail in the full interview - a much better read than the trailer posted above. I think whether Sampson is "a racist" is irrelevant. Stuff he's said clearly constitutes racist microaggressions though. But there's clearly a culture of abuse and victimisation in the England WNT, where players are isolated or frozen out for raising grievances.

                              https://www.theguardian.com/football...cult-situation
                              Last edited by Bizarre Löw Triangle; 22-08-2017, 10:15.

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                                #16

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                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Bizarre Löw Triangle View Post
                                  She was never given hush money.

                                  Aluko raised issues of racism in an internal culture review. She was then victimised, and sacked, and sued for unfair dismissal. She then settled out of court with the FA for £80k. The FA, when accused of paying hush money, said they gave it to Aluko so as "not to disrupt preparations for the Euros" and that Sampson had been fully cleared (with the unstated implication that Aluko was lying).

                                  Quite right that she's now on the warpath.
                                  From what I've read BLT there was a clause in the agreement with the FA that meant she was not allowed to talk about what happened hence my use of the term hush money.

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                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by Antepli Ejderha View Post
                                    From what I've read BLT there was a clause in the agreement with the FA that meant she was not allowed to talk about what happened hence my use of the term hush money.
                                    This is from the interview:

                                    "One of the terms of the settlement agreement was: this is to be kept confidential but, if it goes public, you are allowed to speak about the facts of the case but you cannot say anything that would bring the FA into disrepute. The FA have left that bit out of their statements that I was free to talk. Again, I believe that is another half-truth. But I think that when people understand the situation, they are going to understand: ‘Well, of course, she’s not going to risk saying anything.’ What was I supposed to say – this situation with the FA was lovely? I wasn’t going to risk being sued for breach of contract for telling the truth. Fortunately, the position was clarified, legally, last Friday and I was told I can now give what I believe is the full story."

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                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by longeared View Post
                                      Rachel Yankey - left out of Sampson's first squad in 2013.
                                      Yankey did occur to me, but she was already a veteran by the time he left her out. See also Katie Chapman (who is white). OK, their departures were not at their instigation but at the same time neither is as notable as the dropping of the other three, the absence of two of whom was reported as surprise omissions.
                                      Asante mentioned here: https://www.theguardian.com/football...ficial-pitches
                                      Aluko: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/n...quad-dw26bxg75
                                      Sanderson was also being described as a 'regular pick' last February, when in fact she hasn't been selected since: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35547266

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                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by Bizarre Löw Triangle View Post
                                        But there's clearly a culture of abuse and victimisation in the England WNT, where players are isolated or frozen out for raising grievances.
                                        Aluko has actually spoken about that before.

                                        I remember Jonathan Pearce commenting during the Euros that the atmosphere around the England squad was much more relaxed and positive than it had been under Hope Powell. Hmm. His antennae don't appear to be very good.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Janik View Post
                                          I remember Jonathan Pearce commenting during the Euros that the atmosphere around the England squad was much more relaxed and positive than it had been under Hope Powell. Hmm. His antennae don't appear to be very good
                                          How would he know? He's a commentator, not a coach. I read that as a PR statement written into his script.

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                                            #22
                                            I have sympathies for her, of course, and believe much of her account: both comments are pretty stupid and offensive. But accepting a pay-off of any description weakens her position - if not her argument - significantly.
                                            Jah, would you mind showing your workings here?

                                            Perhaps it is because I am a lawyer (as is Aluko), but to me agreeing to a substantial monetary settlement rather than going through the trouble and uncertainty of an employment tribunal is a perfectly rational thing to do that really shouldn't "weaken" the claimant's position. If anything, I would think that the FA's agreeing to such a settlement is a concession that she had a strong case for unfair dismissal.

                                            It's hard not to view this in the context of the issues in British Cycling. There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with the culture.

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by Duncan Gardner View Post
                                              How would he know? He's a commentator, not a coach. I read that as a PR statement written into his script.
                                              They tend to stay at similar hotels, and do a fair amount of interviews with the squad. Access to Women's squads is supposed to be much easier than the Men's, as well. I can understand why he believed he had a good feel for what was going on, even as an outsider. Turns out he wasn't getting a full picture. Though, of course, those with a grievance were no longer in the squad.

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                                Jah, would you mind showing your workings here?

                                                Perhaps it is because I am a lawyer (as is Aluko), but to me agreeing to a substantial monetary settlement rather than going through the trouble and uncertainty of an employment tribunal is a perfectly rational thing to do that really shouldn't "weaken" the claimant's position. If anything, I would think that the FA's agreeing to such a settlement is a concession that she had a strong case for unfair dismissal
                                                I'm not a lawyer but have some experience of ETs. Put simply, they're normally best avoided for the reasons UA mentions, and unions tend to advise accordingly.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by Janik View Post
                                                  They tend to stay at similar hotels, and do a fair amount of interviews with the squad. Access to Women's squads is supposed to be much easier than the Men's, as well. I can understand why he believed he had a good feel for what was going on, even as an outsider. Turns out he wasn't getting a full picture. Though, of course, those with a grievance were no longer in the squad.
                                                  He wouldn't be the first person to equate "group largely sharing my own ethnicity" with "relaxed and positive".
                                                  Last edited by Nefertiti2; 22-08-2017, 12:10. Reason: misquote

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