Mark Sampson, the manager of the England women’s football team, is alleged to have told one of his black players to make sure their Nigerian relatives did not bring Ebola to a game at Wembley, according to extraordinary new evidence the Guardian can present as part of the Eni Aluko hush-money case. Aluko tells this newspaper that the Football Association has known about the comment – described in one letter from the Professional Footballers’ Association to the governing body as a “racist joke” – since November 2016 but chose to ignore it despite a previous allegation that Sampson had asked a mixed-raced player in another England get-together how many times she had been arrested.

Aluko, who was born in Nigeria but moved to England with her family as a young child, was paid £80,000 by the FA to sign a confidentiality agreement but has now obtained consent to tell her side of the story and in an interview with the Guardian she alleges that Sampson made the comment to her about Ebola before England played Germany in November 2014.

“We were in the hotel. Everybody was excited. It was a big game. On the wall, there was a list of the family and friends who were coming to watch us and I just happened to be next to Mark. He asked me if I had anyone who would be there and I said I had family coming over from Nigeria. ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Nigeria? Make sure they don’t bring Ebola with them.’ I remember laughing but in a very nervous way. I went back to my room and I was really upset. It might have been easier to take if it was about me alone. Lots of things had been said about me over those two years but this was about my family. I called my mum and she was absolutely disgusted.” Sampson is understood to deny making the alleged Ebola remark but, according to the FA, is not planning to say anything at this time.

Nigerian-born Aluko, a qualified lawyer, is one of the best-known faces in women's football. She was Player of the Match in 2015 Women's FA Cup Final. She has spoken out against racist attitudes in the men's game and fought behind the scenes for better pay for England's women players. She was ranked 20th in the Independent on Sunday’s first 50 Most Influential Women in Sport list. She is the elder sister of Omatsone Folarin “Sone" Aluko, a professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Fulham of the EFL Championship and for the Nigeria national team.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/the-50-most-influential-women-in-sport-the-full-list-10446935.html
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/aug/21/eni-aluko-england-manager-mark-sampson-ebola