FA settle with former England women's coach Sampson

LONDON: The Football Association has reached a financial settlement with former England women's national football coach Mark Sampson, sacked in 2017 for "inappropriate" conduct in a former job.

Sampson had brought a case for unfair dismissal -- which had been due to be heard this week -- against the FA after they ended his contract in September 2017 for  "inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour" in his previous role as manager of Bristol Academy.

At the time of his sacking -- the day after a 6-0 thrashing of Russia -- Sampson had a contract worth £100,000 ($128,000) a year which ran till this year's World Cup in France.

"We can confirm that a confidential settlement has been entered into between the FA and Mark Sampson to bring the dispute around the termination of his employment to an agreed close," an FA spokesman told the Daily Mail.

"We will not be commenting further on the matter."

Sampson had a successful tenure on the pitch -- guiding England to the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup and the 2017 European Championships -- but was a controversial figure off it.

The 36-year-old Welshman had been the subject of investigations into allegations of discrimination.

Sampson was judged not to be a racist, although he was found to have made remarks that were "discriminatory on grounds of race" towards two black players.

Sampson was replaced by former England and Manchester United defender Phil Neville.