Participants in the independent investigation into referees chief David Elleray, one of the most powerful officials in world football, have been told the Football Association does not intend to publish the final report publicly.
The governing body commissioned in December an independent investigation, currently being conducted by solicitor Leigh Barnett of law firm Parker Bullen, into Elleray’s conduct following a string of revelations in i regarding fresh allegations.
But former FA employees, who have spoken to Barnett as part of the investigation, are dismayed that the FA has said it will not make the findings public.
It was revealed after the independent investigation had been launched that Elleray, 67, intends to step down at the end of the current season and will resign as chairman of the FA’s referee department.
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“I can’t talk about what I’ve said to the investigation,” Martin Cassidy, a former employee in the FA’s referee department and now chief executive of charity Ref Support UK, told i. “However, I’m disappointed I’ve been informed that the FA does not plan to make the findings of the investigation public.”
Prior to the investigation’s launch, Cassidy sent the FA correspondence with several fresh but as yet unproven allegations about Elleray from more former staff members. FA chief executive Mark Bullingham is understood to have responded to Cassidy explaining that the independent investigation would be commissioned in light of the issues raised.
i first revealed at the beginning of December that a complaint of historic racism had been lodged with the FA against Elleray, a former leading Premier League referee, chair of the FA’s referees committee and seen by many as a gatekeeper of English referees. He is also technical director at the International Football Association Board, a position of significant influence within the body which controls the laws of the game.
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At the time, it was alleged that at a referees conference in 2014, Elleray said to a black former FA employee: “You look rather tanned” and “have you been down a coal mine?”.
When the allegations later emerged in the press, the FA investigated the incident, despite insisting a formal complaint was not made. It found Elleray in breach of the FA Council Code of Conduct and he was made to take an equality and diversity training course. He also apologised.
Further allegations have been made, however, that a member of FA staff who witnessed the comments made attempts to complain at the time and insist that their grievance went no further. While the new independent investigation will not re-examine that case, if new facts emerge it will form part of the wider investigation.
An FA spokesperson said: “The FA is not reopening the investigation from 2014 as we do not consider it appropriate to reopen concluded investigations unless new evidence comes to light that couldn’t have been considered before. We are not in a position to comment further due to an ongoing independent investigation.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/Yj7XC4c
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