28 January 2020

Former England and Juventus striker Eniola Aluko believes the FA and UEFA need to do more to combat racism

Former England and Juventus footballer Eniola Aluko believes that football authorities such as the FA and UEFA need to do more in order to combat racism. 

Aluko, 32, recently announced her retirement from the game, and a week later was appointed as Aston Villa's women's first sporting director.

In 2016, she was controversially cut from the England squad after she raised issues about ongoing behaviour with management. The England manager at the time, Mark Sampson was accused of racism after making an Ebola joke about her Nigerian relatives. 

There were two investigations which cleared Sampson and the management team but a third investigation concluded that Sampson was guilty of 'ill-judged attempts at humour'.

She told HuffPost: "It’s really just frustrating and upsetting that… these things are still happening, and the authorities aren’t doing anything about it.

"I think there’s a lack of respect for black people, black players, for players of colour, from the authorities, because they’re not willing to do anything about it. That’s where the frustration comes from, I think.

"The authorities like the FA, like UEFA, need to ban teams from competition, dock points and make sure that stadiums are closed if there are repeated actions and incidents.

"It’s really that simple. There’s really no other discussion."

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