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Ex-England women's boss Sampson threatened female UEFA official with pole

Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Former England women's national team manager Mark Sampson was investigated for threatening a female UEFA employee with a metal pole during the 2017 European Championship.

A UEFA disciplinary panel banned Sampson for three matches on Sept. 21, according to the Associated Press. Sampson had been fired by the English Football Association the previous day for "inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour" in an unrelated investigation that concentrated on the manager's conduct with female players in a previous role.

Sampson was fired for "insulting, aggressive, and insistent actions," with UEFA adding the disgraced former Lionesses boss "grossly violated the basic rules of decent conduct and his behavior was insulting."

The FA, through an independent inquiry, cleared Sampson of directing racist remarks at Nigerian-born England star Eniola Aluko in 2014, though the governing body for English football did later apologise to Aluko and former teammate Drew Spence. Aluko also received £80,000 in compensation from the FA.

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