Lianne Sanderson opens door to England and FA for reintegration

By James Dale

Thursday 19 October 2017 10:06, UK

Lianne Sanderson is open to playing for England again after the FA apologised to Eni Aluko, but says a lot of changes need to be made.

Aluko and Drew Spence were subjected to "discriminatory remarks on the grounds of race" by former England Women's head coach Mark Sampson, independent barrister Katharine Newton concluded in a report published on Wednesday.

FA executives subsequently later admitted failures within the organisation at a hearing with the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee at Portcullis House, with DCMS chair Damian Collins describing the FA's first investigation into Aluko's complaint as "woefully inadequate".

Sanderson, who has previously said she did not expect to add to her 50 England caps while Sampson was in charge, defended Aluko throughout the investigations and gave evidence at the select committee hearing.

The forward, who is currently injured, believes there could now be a pathway to her playing for the national team again - if changes are made at the FA.

"After my injury I'm up for selection, that's down to the coach and whoever is in charge - whoever they think going forward," Sanderson told Sky Sports News.

"We just want to be treated equally and fairly. I can't speak for Eni but neither of us have retired. Going forward we'd be open to playing for England but a lot of changes need to be made.

"I can't categorically say yes and I can't categorically say no because a lot of things need to change for me, personally, to go back there.

"This hasn't really been about me or Eni, it's about the future of the game and how we can make it better for everybody else."

Conservative MP Collins questioned whether the four executives interrogated by the select committee - FA chairman Greg Clarke, chief executive Martin Glenn, technical director Dan Ashworth and HR director Rachel Brace - should remain in charge after "serious failings" in their processes regarding their investigations into Sampson.

Sanderson insists the door can still be open for reintegration with whoever is in charge at the FA, and said she hopes the governing body can make it easier for players to come forward with issues in the future.

"We can hopefully have something in place now where players can go, file grievances and not be ostracised from the team as myself has been, as Eniola has been, as Drew Spence has been, Anita Asante - the list could go on," Sanderson said.

"After yesterday's findings, hopefully going forward the Football Association - whoever is in charge, if it is the same people it's the same people, if it's not, it's not - hopefully they can learn from this and we can all get better as a country because this isn't good for football."