Chelsea forward Eni Aluko was allegedly paid by the FA to keep quiet over a complaint against the England Women’s team staff.
Aluko submitted an eight-page complaint against the England women’s team manager, Mark Sampson, as well as other members of staff, and according to an article in the Daily Mail, she was paid £40,000 to keep quiet about it.
Aluko, 30, is one of the top players in the women’s game, and has made 102 appearances for England, scoring 33 goals.
However, she was seemingly made to leave the England team in May 2016, after making the complaint about bullying and harassment. She hasn’t been picked since.
According to BBC Sport, she was paid £80,000 in a settlement and signed a confidentiality agreement not to talk about the complaint at the European Championships.
The FA claim that this payment was simply to avoid any disruption to the team at the tournament, but it hardly seems standard practice to make payments to people who might talk about unsettling topics.
Statement in response to Daily Mail article yesterday. pic.twitter.com/qe2AzvzpJC
— Eniola Aluko (@EniAlu) August 8, 2017
Aluko said in a statement that despite not being part of the England team since May 2016, she hasn’t quit the team and remains a Centrally Contracted England player.