FA apologise and admit they breached duty of care to England players Eni Aluko and Drew Spence

The FA has "sincerely apologised" to Eni Aluko and Drew Spence after new evidence found she was subjected to "discriminatory remarks on the grounds of race" by former England Women’s head coach Mark Sampson.

After Independent barrister Katharine Newton’s final report concluded the nature of Sampson’s remarks, which he has denied, FA chairman Greg Clarke admitted the FA had breached their duty of care to the players.

During a gruelling four-hour hearing with the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, all four FA executives present admitted failings within the governing bodies grievance procedures but insisted they were trying to put things right.

Chairman Greg Clarke said: "The material issue is, twice an England player with 100 caps was exposed to an instance of racism. That is a fundamental breach of our duty of care to that person. And I feel very bad about that.

"(The process) is changed. The senior hires now, we spend a lot of money going through cupboards to see if there are any skeletons in it. If that does not work, then the buck stops here."

After initially defending the FA’s investigations into Aluko’s claims of discrimination, Glenn said: "Clearly in his situation with Eni and Drew, yes, there have been failings. But we have 900 players and staff in our control, and in balance we do a good job. In this instance we’ve clearly made mistakes."

The governing body’s HR director Rachel Brace insisted they did the best job they could with the resources and evidence given to them, insisting "I don’t (accept the initial investigation was wholly inadequate) and neither does the barrister. We did the best we could".

Chairman Clarke insisted he would not resign despite their admissions, reiterating his commitment to improving the both the governing body’s and the game of football’s attitudes towards discrimination.

And in the statement of apology issued as the hearing began at 2.30pm on Wednesday, CEO Glenn said: "Our ambition has always been to find the truth and take swift and appropriate action if needed.

"It was our decision to have the original, second and final investigation to ensure that due diligence was taken. It is regrettable that Eniola did not participate in the first external investigation as this would have enabled Katharine Newton to conduct and complete her investigation sooner."

(c) Sky News 2017: FA apologise and admit they breached duty of care to England players Eni Aluko and Drew Spence