England midfielder Lianne Sanderson says FA heads must roll after latest scandal

Lianne Sanderson says the Football Association has still not made contact with her, a week after the explosive parliamentary hearing at which she gave evidence. Sanderson has not played for England since she voiced her support for team-mate Eni Aluko in the FA’s racism scandal, and insisted that change would not happen at the organisation until its top brass were held accountable for past failings.

All four FA employees summoned to the House of Commons last week - chief executive Martin Glenn, chairman Greg Clarke, human resources director Rachel Brace and technical director Dan Ashworth - are still currently in their jobs.

In what she said would be her last public comments on the matter, Sanderson condemned the culture of silence that prevented her England team-mates from speaking up in favour of her and Aluko, and strongly suggested that she and other England players had been treated differently on the basis of their race. She reiterated her claim that the FA had shown a lack of “compassion” and “empathy” before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and said that she would not return to the team unless changes were made.

Sanderson said that the FA had still not offered her the apology they made to Aluko or Drew Spence for racist comments made by former manager Mark Sampson. Nor had they explained why they abruptly terminated a 50-cap international career. “I would have expected a phone call from the FA,” she said speaking at the launch of Stan Collymore's new television show on Russia Today. “Not necessarily apologising, but just to make things better.”

For Sanderson, currently in between clubs while she recovers from a cruciate ligament injury, heads need to roll at the top, and she called on the FA board to act. “Everyone makes mistakes,” she said. “But it’s how you rectify those mistakes, and I still don’t think they’ve taken responsibility for what happened. There needs to be some accountability somewhere. The same people can’t be employing the next managers. Someone is not going to fire themselves, are they? There is a board of directors, and if they have not already, they have to self-reflect.”

What disappointed her the most, she says, was the lack of support from her team-mates. “Players currently there knew what had happened,” she insisted. “We knew that we were telling the truth all along. I can understand why some of the girls didn’t come out and support us. You’ve seen what happened to us. Subconsciously, the girls weren’t even aware of what was going on, because they’re in that environment.

“They’re being told what to say. You get told after an England camp what the objectives of the interview are, the bullet points. Now, I’ve been raised well enough to know how to speak. If we’re in that situation playing for England, we should be able to give our opinion on the game. And you can see that players are so protected. At the same time, the media doesn’t help. One player says one thing, and they run away with it.”

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Sanderson insinuated that the treatment of certain players in the team was based on criteria other than ability. “Clearly there were some biases with some players, and I sensed that with Eni,” she said. “I saw how she was being treated, and I didn’t like it. A lot of players – myself, Anita Asante, Drew Spence – all had similar situations. And we all look pretty similar, if that makes sense. Read between the lines on that one.”

As for the next step, Sanderson is still trying to get fit, but despite her eminent career, and the fact that she is still only 29, she said it would be hard to envisage a return to the England side any time soon. “I love playing for my country,” she said. “It’s the biggest honour. But things would have to change a lot. I would not play for England under the circumstances there are now. If things change, then yes.”