Greg Clarke under fire for mishandling of racism within Football Association

Greg Clarke is finding himself under fire as chairman of the Football Association in the wake of new information regarding his handling of reported racism – and its subsequent cover-up – within the organisation. Wednesday, he, along with other FA higher-ups, was summoned to a parliamentary inquiry concerning the Mark Sampson scandal.

Just two weeks after publically praising player Eni Aluko for reporting racist remarks within the England Women’s football structure, an incredibly insensitive and unprofessional 14-word e-mail sent by Clarke has been released. The e-mail, a response to initially being informed of claims that the FA’s internal inquiry into the alleged racism was “not a genuine search for the truth” and “designed to close down the complaint and absolve Mark Sampson”, curtly states: “I’ve no idea why you are sending me this. Perhaps you could enlighten me?”

This one-line response was interpreted as a blatant show of unprofessionalism by a number of people, with little awareness towards the seriousness of the situation – even amidst accusations against the FA’s technical director, Dan Ashworth, and human resources director, Rachel Brace, who have both been accused of conducting an illegitimate internal inquiry meant to protect Mark Sampson.

Clarke, along with three other FA senior executives, received a six-page document from the Professional Footballer’s Association claiming that the FA was purposefully sabotaging Aluko’s 11-year international football career in the interest of shielding the now-dismissed former Women’s manager, Mark Sampson. The document calls the supposed investigation a “sham” and reveals that Sampson, who has previously been accused of offending mixed-race player Drew Spence in the past, had reportedly made a comment connecting Aluko’s family to Ebola. Sampson, for his part, stresses that he has never made offensively racial remarks about Aluko or any other football player.

The PFA, which was defending Aluko, was so off-put by Clarke’s short reply that it did not reply, feeling that a man in such a powerful and influential position at the FA should not need to be supplied with an explanation as to why serious racial allegations were of his concern.

On 2 October, Clarke took a starkly opposite position, praising Aluko for her bravery in reporting Samson: “I’m pleased she raised the issues. If there are issues, we want people to feel safe and raise them … all we want is to get to the bottom of it.” Aluko, last season’s Golden Boot winner, found herself dropped from the England squad within a fortnight of what she was assured was a confidential reporting process. Ashworth cites this as merely coincidence. The PFA calls it a “retaliation”.

During the 18 October inquiry, FA chief executive came out to apologise on Mark Sampson’s behalf. The inquiry has found that Sampson did indeed remark to Aluko that her Nigerian relatives should be careful not expose Wembley to the Ebola virus, and that he had offended Spence by asking him how many times he had been arrested. “This is not acceptable,” Glenn stated. “Our ambition has always been to find the truth and take swift and appropriate action if needed.”

Ayan Goran