FA dismisses charge against Mark Sampson over alleged racist remark

The Football Assocation has dismissed a misconduct charge against Mark Sampson after an allegation that the Stevenage first-team coach made racially discriminatory remarks was found not proven by an independent disciplinary commission.

Sampson is understood to be hugely relieved by the outcome of what he maintained was a “malicious” claim and Stevenage’s chairman, Phil Wallace, said he was “delighted” but “unsurprised” by a ruling which lifts the lid on the acrimony surrounding the dismissal of the club’s former manager, Dino Maamria, and his goalkeeping coach, Ali Uzunhasanoglu.

Related: Stevenage's Mark Sampson charged by FA over offensive remark about player

Shortly after Maamria – now in charge of Oldham – and Uzunhasanoglu were sacked by the League Two strugglers in September the latter complained to the FA that Sampson had counselled against signing a Nigerian defender in the course of an internal club transfer meeting a week earlier.

During a hearing at Wembley Stadium on 9 and 10 January an FA panel comprising Richard Smith QC, Gareth Farrelly and Tony Agana heard how the sacked Maamria sent Sampson WhatsApp messages calling him “a snake and spineless cunt” after his temporary elevation for a three-month stint in caretaker charge at the Hertfordshire club. Sampson reverted to his role as first-team coach when Graham Westley returned to manage Stevenage in December.

Sampson had previously been found to have addressed discriminatory remarks in the form of ill-judged jokes towards the former England striker Eni Aluko and midfielder Drew Spence. The 37-year-old led England to a World Cup and European Championship semi-final before being sacked in 2017 for an unrelated issue. He subsequently received a substantial out of court settlement from the FA following an unfair dismissal claim.

Sampson had been out of work until July 2019 when he joined Maamria’s staff but things swiftly turned sour. After the former Stevenage manager reiterated Uzunhasanoglu’s allegations to the FA, Sampson was charged in November despite four witness statements contradicting the claims made by others present in the transfer meeting on the afternoon of 2 September.

Stevenage had the chance to conclude their transfer window by signing a defender and were considering two of Nigerian heritage and an Egyptian. While watching video clips of the players in action Sampson – who said his accusers “had an axe to grind maliciously” – is alleged to have said: “A black Nigerian centre-back, you can’t rely on them.” He denied the allegation and was supported by other members of staff including the fitness coach Jon Ashton who denied the accuser’s claim that he said: “You can’t say that Mark.”

The prosecution’s case was undermined by both the delay in the complainant contacting the FA and Sampson’s preference being for the other defender of Nigerian heritage, while the commission reported they “did not find themselves assisted by Mr Maamria’s submissions”. Indeed in their written reasons for the verdict they noted that: “Mr Maamria showed himself to be a very strong character, confident in his own opinion, slow to listen to criticism and aware he can appear intimidating to others.”

With the evidence so contradictory and the burden of proof being on balance of probabilities the commission had no option to but to reach the unproven verdict. “The charge of misconduct is not proved and the charged against Mr Sampson is dismissed,” it said.

Wallace said the findings of the panel came as no surprise to anyone at Stevenage. “The not proven outcome was obvious to us after a very thorough investigation of the facts four months ago and I am pleased that the panel’s 17 pages of findings issued today concur with our own internal investigation conducted in September. I am delighted that Mark is now able to concentrate fully on his future and not be troubled by allegations made by former manager Dino Maamria and former coach Ali Uzunhasanoglu after they had been dismissed.

“The club have stood shoulder to shoulder with Mark because the evidence presented by those independents present at the time conflicted with the allegation. Our club will never tolerate racism and we implement the EFL Equality Code of Practice to manage the club and safeguard the nine key protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, but that doesn’t mean we will stand idly by if we feel allegations are being used for a purpose.”