England Sack Women's Coach Mark Sampson Following Allegations Over Inappropriate Conduct

Mark Sampson has been sacked as England's women's national coach following reported evidence of 'inappropriate and unacceptable' behaviour whilst in a previous role, per the BBC.

The Football Association claim that they have only just been made aware of certain accusations made against Sampson while he was in charge of Bristol's Academy.

An FA safeguarding assessment done in 2015 revealed that Sampson posed no risk, clearing him of wrongdoing after allegations of discrimination.

The Wales national was appointed England boss four years ago after leaving Bristol.

According to the FA, the safeguarding allegations were made a year later and it was adjudged that the manager did not pose a risk, however "the full report of that investigation was only brought to the attention of the current FA leadership last week."

They went on to state: "It is our judgement that it revealed clear evidence of inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour by a coach. It is on this basis that we have acted quickly to agree a termination of Mark's contract."

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Allegations of racism and bullying were levelled at Sampson by Chelsea women's star Eni Aluko, and other individuals are said to have stepped forward to voice concerns over the manager's suitability for the job.

This all comes in the wake of England's 6-0 World Cup qualifying win against Russia on Tuesday in which members of the team appeared to back their manager by celebrating with him on the touchline.

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Aluko, however, accused Sampson of telling her to ask her family not to 'bring Ebola' with them to a certain match at Wembley in 2014.

The player, who has 102 caps for England and is a certified lawyer, has been invited to give evidence to the select committee hearing set for next month.

The minister for sport, Tracey Crouch, said: “This situation is a mess and raises very serious questions about whether the historic processes that the FA had in place around the recruitment of coaches were appropriate, for something like this to have been missed. 

"The FA are right to have taken action but reassurances is needed to make sure this does not happen again at any level of coaching.”

Sampson, meanwhile, has strongly denied all of the allegations.