March 26 – Former England women’s head coach Mark Sampson was banned for three games by UEFA 24 hours after he was sacked in September by the English FA for “inappropriate behaviour” in an unrelated previous role, it has emerged.
The UEFA ban concerned an incident that took place several weeks before Sampson’s sacking – following England’s defeat by hosts Holland in last year’s European Championship semi-finals.
Documents published on the UEFA website, which concluded its investigation on September 21, point to Sampson’s “aggressive and insulting” behaviour towards officials including to the UEFA venue director, telling her: “You better sit down, you little s…!”
Sampson was then accused of confronting referee liaison officer Fijke Hoogendijk outside the referee changing room. The UEFA report continued: “After the game, the referee liaison officer was standing outside the referee changing room when [Sampson] shouted aggressively at her: ‘You’re a f…. disgrace, it’s a f…. shame.’
“He then picked up a metal pillar raising it above his head aggressively before throwing it down hard against the floor. Fijke was concerned he was going to strike her. … Fijke felt intimidated and offended by his actions.”
According to UEFA, the English FA claimed that “the build-up to the game had been particularly stressful with travel to the stadium disrupted and preparation time considerably reduced.”
But UEFA’s disciplinary body concluded that Sampson’s conduct was of “great concern” as he “threatened the integrity” of an official.
“The language he used and his attitude grossly violated the basic rules of decent conduct and his behaviour was insulting,” UEFA said.
“Even accepting the statements of the coach in full it can’t be permitted that UEFA officials like the venue director and the referee liaison officer endure the aggressive manners of others present at the match, let alone the head coach of one of the teams.”
Before he was sacked, Sampson had been cleared of wrongdoing after England striker Eniola Aluko made widely reported complaints of “bullying and harassment” against the 35-year-old. However, in October the FA apologised for racially discriminatory remarks made by Sampson to Aluko in 2014 as a reopened investigation into the complaints was published.
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