Anita Asante has become the latest player to question the culture of the England women’s team, praising Eni Aluko
Sami Vatanen Jersey for going public with her grievances about the manager, Mark Sampson, and criticising the “environment of silence” she believes the Football Association has fostered behind the scenes. After Eni Aluko’s interview, 10 questions the FA must now answer Read more Asante, who has won 70 England caps and played in two World Cups and three European Championships, said a culture existed where the FA, which has still not commented on the latest allegations surrounding Sampson, would “mollycoddle the people in power and make sure that nothing can touch them”. She is backing calls from the anti-racism group Kick It Out and the Professional Footballers’ Association for a third inquiry into the Aluko affair and said she fully supported her former team-mate. “It takes a strong person, with a lot of integrity and courage, to stand up and say something, knowing what the potential consequences could be,” she said. Aluko has alleged that Sampson told her before one game to make sure that her Nigerian relatives did not bring Ebola to Wembley and that another member of staff regularly used to talk to her in a fake Caribbean accent. Sampson denies the allegation and an internal FA review cleared him of any wrongdoing relating to previous claims that he had “distressed” a mixed-race England player by asking her how many times she had been arrested. A second investigation, carried out on behalf of the FA by the barrister Katharine Newton, also cleared Sampson but Aluko has described the two inquiries as a “farce” after it emerged the mixed-raced player was never contacted and the governing body delivered its initial verdict before speaking to Lianne Sanderson, who had been identified as a key witness. Sanderson, who has 50 caps, has been heavily critical of how Sampson
http://www.authenticducksstore.com/scott-niedermayer-jersey_c-435.html treated her and, referring to the alleged comment to the mixed-raced player, told the Guardian she was on the relevant trip in October 2015 and can remember “a lot of the girls were talking about it”. Asante, who has played for Arsenal and Chelsea and is now at FC Rosengard, has her own complaints about the way she has been treated in the England set-up and said she could understand why Aluko had alleged a pattern was developing. Aluko had also said that the current players were “terrified” to speak out and Asante agrees that may be holding back others. “Players aren’t going to speak out if they feel their personal interests will be hindered,” Asante said. “We’re in a competitive sport and all the players have personal goals. They want to play in the World Cup and the other big competitions, and if they feel, ‘If I go against the administration, or the people in charge, that’s going to affect my position in the future,’ they are not going to speak out. Eni Aluko: ‘The minute you are brave enough to talk about race you are in a difficult situation’ Read more “We’ve been so used to an environment of silence where people daren’t speak up. For Eni to break that mould will hopefully create a shift that will give others confidence to speak out if anything comes up likes this again.” As well as Kick it Out and the PFA, the shadow sports minister, Rosena Allin-Khan, has also called for the FA to start
http://www.nflbengalsofficialshop.com/Nike-Kevin-Minter-Jersey.html the entire process again on the back of Aluko’s interview with the Guardian on Monday and her “deeply worrying” allegations about Sampson. Asante, who also feels she has been ostracised by Sampson, believes an independent inquiry is the only remaining option. “If they [the FA] stand by the values they pertain to uphold, and want others out there to respect the institution and what it does, that’s exactly what they should do.” Asante, whose last involvement with England was in 2015, said she had taken it “quite personally” that Sampson had given his players a date when he would let everyone know if they were in his World Cup squad but then told her on an England camp, almost a month before the selection point, that she was not going to be picked. “I didn’t understand why he chose to tell me, only me, that way, out of 30-plus players. That came out of leftfield. I emailed him to ask: ‘What do you think I can work on?’ In the most polite way I could, I explained I was quite dissatisfied with the way he had approached it and asked him if he could explain. “I didn’t receive a response and, from that time on, I have not had any communication at all even though I play in a top-five team in Europe and in the Champions League
Randy Bullock Jersey every year. I don’t know what it is that left him with the feeling he couldn’t even communicate with me
