English football is in the doghouse this morning with Sam Allerdyce accused by the Daily Telegraph of offering his services, for a £400,000 fee, to ‘get around’ FA rules on player transfers.
In an elaborate operation known as a sting the new England boss is seen on video discussing the offer as well as giving some choice opinion on others including Roy Hodgson who he mockingly calls Woy.
The FA has strict rules on endorsements and require to approve every deal that the England manager takes on with the ‘deal’ created by the Telegraph a complete non starter.
With millions pouring into English football business worldwide are looking for a slice of the action as astronomical sums are paid out to middlemen for apparently straightforward deals.
According to this morning’s report: “Before he had even held his first training session as England’s new head coach, Allardyce negotiated a deal with men purporting to represent a Far East firm that was hoping to profit from the Premier League’s billion-pound transfer market.
“He agreed to travel to Singapore and Hong Kong as an ambassador and explained to the “businessmen” how they could circumvent Football Association rules which prohibit third parties “owning” players.
“Unbeknown to Allardyce, the businessmen were undercover reporters and he was being filmed as part of a 10-month Telegraph investigation that separately unearthed widespread evidence of bribery and corruption in British football.
“Over the course of two meetings, lasting four hours in total, Allardyce told the fictitious businessmen that it was “not a problem” to bypass the rules introduced by his employers in 2008.
“He said he knew of certain agents who were “doing it all the time” and added: “You can still get around it. I mean obviously the big money’s here.”
Allerdyce now faces an anxious day trying to put together his side of the story knowing that more is likely to come out tomorrow. Suggesting that he knew it was a scam and just played along with it is unlikely to impress his new bosses at the FA.
IN 2006 Allerdyce declared a lifetime boycott of the BBC following a Panarama investigation into corruption in football.
