Eni Aluko is open to England return if Mark Sampson leaves

National service: Eni Aluko in action against Monaco at the World Cup
Getty Images
James Olley18 August 2017

Eni Aluko would consider playing for England again if manager Mark Sampson was no longer in charge.

Standard Sport understands that while the 30-year-old continues to be disappointed at the way her exile from international football has been handled by the Football Association, she would be open to a comeback should Sampson leave his post.

There is, as yet, no suggestion Sampson, who has two years left on his contract, will do so but the FA are reeling after it emerged that Aluko was allegedly paid £80,000 following her bullying complaint, despite an independent investigation concluding there had been “no wrongdoing”.

Aluko, who won 102 caps before falling out of favour and missing out on England’s Euro 2017 squad, alleged that Sampson had made a “highly inappropriate” remark in which he asked one of his players how many times she had been in trouble with the police.

Aluko — a qualified lawyer — claimed the comments had “derogatory, racial and prejudicial connotations”. The FA held an internal investigation in addition to commissioning a confidential independent inquiry — led by barrister Katharine Newton from Old Square Chambers — in which Sampson disputed making such a remark.

Aluko’s complaint was dismissed after Newton watched a video of the meeting where he was said to have used an analogy about a “police caution” before turning to another player and allegedly asking her: “Haven’t you been arrested before? Four times isn’t it?”

The official report concluded that this video evidence did not show Sampson using those words and so no action was taken against him.

Sampson admitted in a statement released last night that he must improve his communication. “The barrister’s final report said there was no case to answer and noted that my approach to all players is the same regardless of their background,” he said.

“I also appreciated that the report highlighted areas where I could improve my general communication style, and that is something I have taken on board and looked to improve.”

Despite her case being dismissed, Aluko was paid a lump sum which the FA have described as an agreement to avoid any disruption to England’s Euro 2017 rather than an attempt to avoid disclosure.

Aluko’s submission also alleged a culture of bullying dating back to February 2014, a month after Sampson was appointed head coach, another point dismissed by Newton.

It is believed the Chelsea striker Aluko feels she has unfinished business at international level.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in