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Sports Minister Tracey Crouch to be 'final witness' in football governance inquiry

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch MP
Image: Sports Minister Tracey Crouch MP has said she hopes the FA 'learns lessons' from the Mark Sampson 'saga'

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch is expected to be the final witness in the Parliamentary inquiry into football governance next month.

The House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) committee has powers to recall officials who have already given evidence, but it is understood they have no current plans to ask the FA's leadership team to return and face further questions in person.

MPs do not currently intend to ask the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) for evidence in person either, despite unprecedented criticism from FA chairman Greg Clarke, but the PFA could yet submit testimony in writing.

Tracey Crouch MP was made Sports Minister in
Image: Tracey Crouch MP was made Sports Minister in early 2015

Crouch is due to be the final witness as part of the DCMS's wider review of governance in sport.

The Minister for Sport is scheduled to face MPs on November 14 and has described the situation surrounding Mark Sampson's departure as England women's manager as a "mess".

It is understood Sampson has not been asked to appear before the DCMS committee because its focus has been on the wider process.

Crouch said last week: "I hope the FA learns lessons from this whole sorry saga to ensure that all in the sport and the wider public have faith in their processes and procedures."

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Greg Clarke says he will not step down as FA chairman in the wake of the Eni Aluko case

Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn have retained the full support of the organisation's board and their positions were not discussed during a conference call involving board members last Thursday. A routine FA board meeting is scheduled to take place later next month.

Clarke and Glenn faced two-and-a-half hours of questioning in Parliament last Wednesday, alongside the FA's technical director Dan Ashworth and Rachel Brace, the governing body's HR director. The committee is waiting to receive further evidence from Farrer & Co, the FA's lawyers.

England women's goalkeeping coach Lee Kendall is facing an internal investigation over Eniola Aluko's claims that he addressed her in a mock Caribbean accent. Kendall, who travelled back from France before England's qualifying game on Friday, will be questioned by the FA in the coming weeks.

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Eniola Aluko told Sky Sports News that Wednesday's DCMS hearing can effect

It has yet to be confirmed whether he will attend next month's qualifying games against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kazakhstan. He has not been formally suspended.

"We're not perfect," Baroness Campbell, the FA's Head of Women's Football, told Sky Sports News on Sunday. "There is a real commitment to do that and we're not going to do it overnight, it's a long steady progress that we're going to have to make but we're determined to do it.

"Martin [Glenn] is unquestionably trying to tackle modernisation of what is a massive organisation. But you're not going to click your fingers and make that happen overnight, it's a long hard tough process and I think we're all committed to it.

"As far as I'm concerned in the women's game changes are underway and we're making great progress and I'm very proud of the work we're doing."

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