1 Written Evidence Submitted by Eniola Aluko Background 1. My
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Written evidence submitted by Eniola Aluko Background 1. My name is Eniola Aluko. I am a 30-year old professional footballer for Chelsea FC born in Lagos, Nigeria and raised in Birmingham, England. I started playing football at 5 years old with my brother, Sone Aluko (also a professional footballer, currently playing for Reading FC) and other children in the local area where I lived. The majority of the children in the local area were boys and I quickly realized I had to play on the same level as them to be accepted in the area. I soon became otherwise known as the “girl that is better than the boys” in my local estate. My passion, gift and love for football blossomed from that point onwards. 2. I was the only girl in the school football team (See Appendix 11) throughout junior school. This came with its own advantages and challenges at a young age, however as I got older I learnt to accept my gift of playing football as a girl as something that was positive, unique and empowering. 3. I was scouted for the England youth teams when I was 14 years old playing in the Birmingham City ladies first team. I was incredibly proud to receive the letter to get selected for my first youth England camp. I was so proud and excited I turned up in a skirt suit to my first England camp whilst everyone else turned up in a tracksuit. At the time it was embarrassing and very uncool but in hindsight it demonstrated how much pride my family and I felt for me to start my career as an England player. I feel great honour to say that I remain one of the youngest ever England senior women debutants at 17 years old in 2004. 4. I am delighted to say that I am an England centurion having reached the milestone of 102 caps for the England senior women’s team. I am very fortunate to have played for England for 11 years from 2004-2016 with many personal and team successes during my England career. My 9 year career under former England manager Hope Powell included highlights such as qualifying for the 2007 World Cup in China for the first time in 12 years, scoring a brace in the 2009 European Championship quarter finals and winning a silver medal in the 2009 European championship final against Germany. My substitute appearance against Germany and securing a bronze medal at the 2015 World Cup is also an England career highlight. 5. Throughout my England career, I have balanced playing football semi- professionally and professionally with my studies and legal qualifications to become a UK Solicitor. I was delighted to achieve a First Class honours in Law from Brunel University in 2008 after many sleepless nights in the library preparing for the arduous legal exams after football training. I qualified as a UK Solicitor in 2014. Positive relations with the FA 6. I gained valuable legal work experience during my university studies. I fondly remember my first work placement in the FA legal department for 2 weeks and 1 Not published. 1 I remain grateful to the FA for giving me such valuable exposure so early on in my journey as a lawyer. This is one notable example of many that exemplify my longstanding positive relationship for 9 years with the FA. 7. I also wrote a personal column for the FA media department for over 12 months and was nominated as an FA ambassador for the 2018 World cup bid (See Appendix 2). I have spoken on behalf of the FA and England at several media engagements throughout my England career on various matters including team performance, development and off the field matters pertinent to women’s football. Furthermore, I have also spoken on behalf of the FA on more difficult topics such as racism, in partnership with initiatives such as Show Racism the Red card. 8. I was unanimously nominated by my England teammates as the team representative to negotiate an improvement of the terms of Central contracts given by the FA. To ensure a fair and transparent process, I organized a voting day for players to vote for four current England teammates – two senior and two younger players – to form a committee of representatives to improve the Central contracts. As a team, we believed it was important to improve professional standards of the England senior women’s team after the watershed experience of the 2012 London Olympics. 9. I was honoured to represent the interests, concerns and expectations of the team alongside the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), giving my legal knowledge as a resource for the understanding of the team and individual teammates. Central contracts have improved considerably over the past 5 years with salaries increasing from £16,000 pa in 2013 to £25,000 pa with £5,000 maximum bonuses at the time of writing. Important contractual clauses relating to issues such as maternity and notice termination periods have also been introduced, which is crucial for the continuing alignment with the working rights of professional females. 10. I am as proud of my contribution to the development of central contracts and professional standards in women’s football as I am about my performances for England on the pitch. I hope to continue to be a voice and representative for the continuing development of women’s football in England and the rest of the world. 11. My other off field commitments include ambassadorial roles for the Premier League, Chelsea FC and UN Women UK. Negative relations with the FA & Mark Sampson 12. Because of my many positive and memorable experiences with the FA as an England player, it is with huge disappointment that I will speak to the select committee about my negative experiences between 2014 to date under the management of former England manager Mark Sampson, including the serious concerns I raised in the course of a ‘Culture Review’, the circumstances in which I came to be dropped from the England squad in May 2016 and the events that have followed. 13. At the outset I wish to state that I am not the architect or engineer of any of the circumstances that have led to this invitation to give evidence to the 2 committee. My intention in dealing with this matter has always been to speak the unedited truth whilst avoiding these matters being played out in the press. I was asked by Dan Ashworth to take part in his Culture Review in May 2016, which I will expand on below. In this review, I answered all questions put to me and had a productive and honest conversation with the external consultant engaged by the FA regarding my negative experiences under Mark Sampson. At the time I believed my feedback would be treated confidentially and that the information would be used productively to prevent similar issues continuing or recurring in the England women’s team culture. 14. I did not ask for Mark Sampson to lose his job as England manager. I simply gave a factual account of what I believed were inappropriate and unacceptable actions and behaviour towards me (and others) as an England player. 15. I certainly did not anticipate effectively having my England career ended a week after I reported serious concerns as part of the Culture Review. I also did not anticipate having to give up a legal job I had worked extremely hard for because of an FA investigation carried out around the same time as I raised my grievances (which I explain in more detail below). 16. I believe that the FA’s handling of, and response to, my complaints was seriously defective. In the circumstances, my last resort was pursuing my complaints (of race discrimination and victimisation) in the Employment Tribunal, so as to ensure a level of independent scrutiny that is standard in the legal system. Ultimately, however, I chose not to go down this route by agreeing an out of court settlement with the FA, thereby avoiding the stress involved in litigating such a high-profile matter. 17. It has been widely reported that my settlement with the FA amounts to “hush money” – in essence, that a payment was made to keep me silent about the grievances I had raised. I believe it is inappropriate to describe the settlement as “hush money”. The financial negotiations regarding the out of court settlement related to my loss of earnings and future earnings as a result of the treatment I had been subjected to. I have paid national insurance and tax on the first tranche of the settlement sum, because it amounts to loss of earnings that would ordinarily have been taxed at source. 18. These negotiations were not based on how much money I would accept to keep silent. I was due to lodge my claim in the Employment Tribunal and was prepared to take that route to deal with what I felt was a strong case of discrimination and victimisation, as I shall come to shortly. I understand that confidentiality is a standard clause in out of court settlements when both parties decide it is best to avoid litigating in a public forum. The agreement also specified that should matters come into the public domain, I would be permitted to speak about them. 19. At present, the FA has taken the decision to withhold the second payment owed to me under the settlement agreement (the settlement sum was payable in two instalments, and it is the second instalment which is being withheld).