2006 allegations of corruption in English football on:
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In 2006, several allegations were made of corruption in
English football
Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...
, by sources both inside and outside the game, including a ''
BBC Panorama'' investigation. In response, the
Football Association commissioned a report from
Lord Stevens, former Commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police, and subsequently an investigation was carried out by the
City of London police, leading to many arrests.
Allegations
January – Managers
In January 2006, then
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
manager,
Mike Newell and then-manager of
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
,
Ian Holloway
Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town.
A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...
alleged that bribes were rife in the sport.
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
subsequently held talks with the two managers and established an enquiry.
September – ''BBC Panorama''
On 19 September 2006 the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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television programme ''
Panorama'' broadcast a special investigation into corruption in English football which had begun filming in August 2005.
''"Undercover: Football's Dirty Secrets"'' included footage shown of meetings between agents, managers and high ranking football club officials, filmed undercover by
Knut auf dem Berge
Knut (Norwegian language, Norwegian and Swedish language, Swedish), Knud (Danish language, Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German language, German, and Dutch language, Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. ...
, a freelance coach posing as a prospective football agent. This footage purported to show agents and managers accepting backhanders and illegally "
tapping-up" players under contract to other clubs.
These allegations included:
* That
Bolton Wanderers manager
Sam Allardyce
Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player.
Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...
, and his agent son Craig were alleged to have accepted bribes from agents for signing certain players. Two agents, Teni Yerima and Peter Harrison, were secretly filmed, each separately claiming that they had paid Allardyce through his son. Allardyce denies ever taking, or asking for, a bribe.
* Then
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
manager
Harry Redknapp is secretly filmed discussing the possibility of buying the
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
captain
Andy Todd with agent Peter Harrison, which is illegal under FA rules. However, the programme merely showed Harrison approaching Redknapp and asking direct questions which Redknapp answered.
* Then Portsmouth first-team coach
Kevin Bond, first team coach of
Newcastle United when the programme was aired, is secretly recorded admitting he would consider discussing receiving payments from a proposed new agency involving agent Peter Harrison. This was the programme's description; it did not seem explicit from the extract broadcast. Bond was suspended and then sacked by Newcastle as a result of the allegations.
*
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
director of youth football
Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was Sporting Director a ...
is secretly filmed making an illegal approach or "tapping up"
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
's England youth star 15-year-old
Nathan Porritt. Arnesen offers a fee of £150,000 spread over three years as an incentive to move, although he had been advised that it was 99.9% certain that Porritt would leave Middlesbrough. Both of these allegations are illegal under FA rules. Officials from
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
and
Newcastle United were also implicated in attempts to sign Porritt.
* Agent Peter Harrison told the undercover reporter that, to secure transfer deals with Bolton, he bribed Sam Allardyce by offering to pay his son Craig. Harrison is a FIFA-listed agent, who is based in the north-east of England.
* That three different Bolton transfer signings involved secret payments from agents to Craig Allardyce, some when he was contractually banned from doing any Bolton deals. Panorama alleged Bolton's transfer signings of defender
Tal Ben Haim
Tal Ben Haim (or Tal Ben Haim I, he, טל בן-חיים; born 31 March 1982) is an Israeli footballer who last played for Beitar Jerusalem. He can play at either centre back or right back. He has played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bolton Wanderers ...
, midfielder
Hidetoshi Nakata and goalkeeper
Ali Al Habsi involved secret payments from agents to Craig Allardyce. Allardyce's son quit the agency business in summer 2006, and has admitted in newspaper interviews that his working as an agent might have cost his father the chance of becoming England manager.
* Agent Charles Collymore, is secretly filmed in the Panorama film, saying: "There's managers out there who take bungs all day long. I would say to you comfortably there's six to eight managers we could definitely approach and they'd be up for this no problem." Later, Collymore is named publicly for the first time by Luton Town manager Mike Newell as the agent who offered him an illegal payment. Collymore also represents England cricketer
Simon Jones.
The programme also claimed to have set up a sting involving handing a cash payment to an unnamed Premiership manager, but the alleged manager did not turn up at the rendezvous. The programme claimed that he had been scared off by
Mike Newell's claims being revealed that same day.
September – Telegraph Sport
On 26 September, the
Daily Telegraph alleged that an unlicensed agent was paid in the deal to bring
Tal Ben Haim
Tal Ben Haim (or Tal Ben Haim I, he, טל בן-חיים; born 31 March 1982) is an Israeli footballer who last played for Beitar Jerusalem. He can play at either centre back or right back. He has played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bolton Wanderers ...
to
Bolton Wanderers. When the Israeli international moved to England, agent Jamie Hart – the official middle man – was paid a fee by Bolton. But he has now confirmed that unlicensed agent David Abu also received a cut of the fee for the role he played in the deal. Allardyce's son, Craig, a key protagonist in the Panorama documentary, also received a payment but when quizzed on such payments Bolton Chairman Phil Gartside confirmed he had no such knowledge.
Reaction
On 3 March 2006, The Football Association established an enquiry to be headed by
Lord Stevens, former Commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police and former head of an enquiry into corruption in cricket. The initial findings of Stevens' report were announced in December 2006.
On 20 September, The Football Association asked the BBC to provide all of the collected evidence and announced that it would investigate these allegations. It was to investigate allegations of illegal approaches involving Chelsea sporting director
Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was Sporting Director a ...
,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, Newcastle United and Portsmouth manager
Harry Redknapp, along with allegations "relating to players' agents and connected activities" involving Bolton Wanderers manager
Sam Allardyce
Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player.
Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...
, son
Craig Allardyce, Newcastle United assistant manager
Kevin Bond, and agents
Charles Collymore and
Peter Harrison.
All of those accused of impropriety have denied all allegations arising from the programme, including:
* Sam Allardyce: said that he had placed the matter in the hands of his lawyers. On 25 September he announced that after lengthy discussions his lawyers had advised that "I have a very strong case in relation to the programme, and I am planning to sue the BBC over the false and highly damaging allegations. I have therefore instructed my lawyers to prepare my case against the BBC." Allardyce added that he would discuss the matter with Bolton chairman,
Phil Gartside, as well as his wife before he took any final decision. Allardyce has not yet filed any legal action against the BBC, meaning the allegations remain legally unchallenged.
* Kevin Bond: said that he intended to sue the BBC for libel. Newcastle United placed him on
gardening leave following the broadcast, and terminated his contract on 26 September. In response, Bond issued a statement claiming that Newcastle had sacked him without investigating properly. Bond was employed again within a month, as manager of
AFC Bournemouth. Kevin Bond filed legal papers against the BBC, but withdrew the libel action, 8 days before the trial was set to commence. The BBC's claims against Bond remain legally unchallenged.
The
League Managers Association
The League Managers Association (LMA) is the trade union for Premier League, EFL and national team managers in English association football. The LMA awards the LMA Manager of the Year award annually.
History
The union was founded in 3045 as ...
demanded hard evidence: "As the organisation which represents managers we were very disappointed with the programme. There was a complete lack of substance and evidence, and if the BBC has any hard evidence it should give it to the Football Association."
HM Revenue & Customs
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has also indicated it will look into the claims.
No libel proceedings were issued by any of those accused of wrongdoing in the broadcast.
Stevens report
It was announced on 2 October 2006 that Lord Stevens' inquiry into
football corruption had been extended by two months to investigate 39 transfers involving eight clubs. On 20 December 2006, Stevens presented his preliminary report, which found that while the level of corruption within English football was not as high as had been anticipated, there were several causes for concern. Seventeen transfer deals were still subject to further scrutiny.
On 15 June 2007, Lord Stevens' inquiry issued its final report which raised concerns over issues involving 17 player transfers, involving five clubs, three managers and numerous agents and other third parties. In summary, the report stated: "there is no evidence of any irregular payments to club officials or players, and they are identified only as a consequence of the outstanding issues the inquiry has with the agents involved".
Details of one of the suspect transfer deals was withheld. The other transfers about which there are unresolved issues are:
Bolton Wanderers
*
Ali Al-Habsi
Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi ( ar, علي بن عبد الله بن حارب الحبسي; born 30 December 1981) is an Omani retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Club career Early career
Al-Habsi was born in Oman and star ...
(Free transfer from
Lyn Oslo
Ski- og Fotballklubben Lyn (lit. "Ski and Football Club Lightning") is a Norwegian alliance sports club from Nordre Aker, Oslo. It has two sections; for association football and Nordic skiing. Until 2010 they had a third section, for top-level a ...
– 7 January 2006)
*
Tal Ben Haim
Tal Ben Haim (or Tal Ben Haim I, he, טל בן-חיים; born 31 March 1982) is an Israeli footballer who last played for Beitar Jerusalem. He can play at either centre back or right back. He has played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bolton Wanderers ...
(Free transfer from
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...
– 29 July 2004)
*
Blessing Kaku
Blessing Kaku (born 5 March 1978 in Ughelli, Nigeria) is a former Nigeria national football team, Nigerian international football (soccer), football player, who was a member of the national squad at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He played ...
(Free transfer from
F.C. Ashdod – 24 August 2004)
*
Julio Correia (Free transfer from
Real Valladolid
Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system.
The club c ...
– 25 July 2004)
There were also unanswered concerns regarding the involvement of
Craig Allardyce in a number of transactions. "The inquiry remains concerned at the conflict of interest that it believes existed between Craig Allardyce, his father
Sam Allardyce
Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player.
Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...
– the then manager at Bolton – and the club itself".
Chelsea
*
Didier Drogba (£24 million from
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
– 20 July 2004)
*
Petr Čech
Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as ...
(£7 million from
Rennes – 1 June 2004)
*
Michael Essien (£24.4 million from
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
– 19 August 2005)
"Agent
Pinhas Zahavi has failed to co-operate fully with the inquiry. There was an initial failure to disclose his involvement in a number of transfers but, more seriously, he has failed to provide the inquiry with complete bank statements due to the confidential nature of them. There has also been a lack of responsiveness by Zahavi. There remains questions relating to his relationship with, and payments to, licensed agent
Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman (born 29 June 1952) is a football agent and former player, who played in midfield for 11 clubs including at Manchester City in 1979 and at Leyton Orient from 1981 to 1985. He competed for 16 years. In total, he made 340 professio ...
, and with Silkman's failure to initially disclose his involvement in all the transactions in which he has received fees".
Middlesbrough
*
Fábio Rochemback
Fábio Rochemback (born 10 December 1981) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
At different ends of his career, he represented both ''Grenal'' rivals of his home state of Rio Grande do Sul: Internacional and ...
(Free transfer from
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
– 31 August 2005)
*
Yakubu (£7.5 million from
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
– 4 July 2005)
The statement relating to Zahavi and Silkman above also relates to the two Middlesbrough transfers.
Newcastle United
*
Albert Luque (£8.5 million from
Deportivo La Coruña
''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to:
* Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club
* Déportivo, a French rock band
* Deportivo (Mexicable)
Mexicable is a aerial lift line in Ecatepec de Mo ...
– 26 August 2005)
*
Emre Belözoğlu
Emre Belözoğlu (, born 7 September 1980) is a Turkish former professional footballer and manager who is currently serving as the manager of İstanbul Başakşehir. During his playing career, he played as a midfielder. He was named in the FIFA ...
(£3.8 million from
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...
– 14 July 2005)
*
Jean-Alain Boumsong (£8 million from
Rangers – 1 January 2005)
*
Amdy Faye (£2 million from
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
– 25 January 2005)
"There remains inconsistencies in evidence provided by
Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit.
A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...
– a former manager of the club – and
Kenneth Shepherd
Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byna ...
” (son of the former Newcastle chairman
Freddy Shepherd
Freddy Shepherd (29 October 1941 – 25 September 2017) was an English businessman and the chairman of Newcastle United football club from 1997 until 2007.
During his time at Newcastle, both as an active assistant to and later replacement of ...
)“— apparently acting in an undefined role but not as a club official – as to their respective roles in transfer negotiations". Souness issued a statement denying any wrongdoing: "I cannot understand why my name features in this report. I volunteered full information to Quest as a witness and I have heard nothing further from them." The Stevens enquiry then issued a clarification: "We wish to make it clear that inconsistencies did not exist within the evidence given by Graeme Souness to Quest concerning his role in transfers covered by the Inquiry during his time as manager of Newcastle United FC and neither the Premier League nor do Quest have any concerns in this regard".
"The inquiry has been unable to obtain the co-operation of the agent
Ahmet Bulut
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
” in connection with the Emre transfer.
"The inquiry is still awaiting clarification from agent
Willie McKay
Willie McKay is a British football agent, based in Monaco. He was the agent of many top-level footballers, mainly based in England and France, specifically the Premier League His clients include James McFadden, Joey Barton
Joseph Anthon ...
” in connection with the Boumsong and Faye transfers. However, Quest later issued the following statement: "Further to the key findings from the final Quest report published on 15 June 2007 by the Premier League, Quest would like to emphasise that, in that report, it was clear that no evidence of irregular payments was found in the transfers in the inquiry period which involved the agent Willie McKay. Quest would also like to thank Mr McKay for his cooperation with the inquiry."
In relation to the Luque transfer: "The inquiry still has unanswered questions relating to possible payments made by agent Francis Martin, who Newcastle officials believed was working for the selling club".
Portsmouth
*
Collins Mbesuma
Collins Mbesuma (born 3 February 1984) is a Zambian professional footballer who plays for South African club Pretoria Callies. He is nicknamed ''The Hurricane'' or ''Ntofontofo''.
Club career
Mbesuma was born in Luanshya. His father, Franci ...
(Free transfer from
Kaizer Chiefs – 1 August 2005)
*
Benjani Mwaruwari (£4.1 million from
Auxerre
Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...
– 6 January 2006)
*
Aliou Cissé (£300,000 from
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
– 6 August 2004)
"Agent
Willie McKay
Willie McKay is a British football agent, based in Monaco. He was the agent of many top-level footballers, mainly based in England and France, specifically the Premier League His clients include James McFadden, Joey Barton
Joseph Anthon ...
acted for the selling club, Auxerre, in the transfer of Benjani and for Portsmouth in the transfer of Cisse and, for the same reason as above" (still awaiting clarification) "the inquiry is not prepared to clear these transfers at this stage". However, as mentioned above, the enquiry issued a further statement saying that no evidence of irregular payments had been found in the transfers in the inquiry period which involved McKay and thanking McKay for his co-operation.
"In relation to Benjani’s transfer, the inquiry also has identified concerns regarding the role of (agent)
Teni Yerima and (third party)
Ralph N’Komo
Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf").
The most common forms ...
.”
With regard to manager
Harry Redknapp, his ownership of a racehorse named "Double Fantasy" thought to have been given to him by the agent Willie McKay, has aroused some suspicion. Redknapp told the inquiry that it was possible that he did own the horse but insisted that he had not made any money out of it because the horse was a failure and never won a race.
November 2007 arrests
On 28 November 2007 it was reported by
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
that the then Portsmouth manager,
Harry Redknapp, Managing Director,
Peter Storrie
Peter Storrie (born 7 November 1952) is the Executive Vice-Chairman of A-League club Central Coast Mariners. He was also a former director and Chief Executive Officer of English team Portsmouth, and had formerly worked for West Ham United, Southen ...
, former Portsmouth chairman,
Milan Mandaric, former Portsmouth footballer
Amdy Faye and agent
Willie McKay
Willie McKay is a British football agent, based in Monaco. He was the agent of many top-level footballers, mainly based in England and France, specifically the Premier League His clients include James McFadden, Joey Barton
Joseph Anthon ...
had been arrested by
City of London Police in relation to the ongoing inquiries into allegations of corruption in football.
2008 investigations
City of London Police continued an ongoing investigation in 2008, including a search of
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
in March.
Birmingham officials
Karren Brady
Karren Rita Brady, Baroness Brady, (born 4 April 1969) is a British business executive and television personality. She is a former managing director of Birmingham City F.C. and current vice-chairman of West Ham United F.C., and an aide to Al ...
and
David Sullivan were arrested, interviewed and released on bail in April;
David Gold and
Julia Shelton
Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...
were interviewed in July.
was released from bail in June, effectively clearing him of wrongdoing.
''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' reported in June 2009, that both Kevin Bond and Harry Redknapp had dropped their libel cases against the BBC, shortly before the trial. Meaning the BBC's claims are now legally unchallenged.
When questioned on the subject, the FA stated that their own investigation was still ongoing, and any charges will probably wait until the government's own investigation into football corruption has concluded.
On 14 May 2008,
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
dropped one of the two charges it had brought against each of six players' agents relating to alleged breaches of rules in transfer dealings at
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
.
["FA drops charge against agents over Luton transfer irregularities"]
by David Conn, ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 14 May 2008
The F.A. has laid twelve charges against agents - two each against
Sky Andrew,
Mike Berry,
Mark Curtis,
Stephen Denos
Stephen or Steven is a common English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Ac ...
, and
Andrew Mills.
The first charge was that payments were made to them by a third company, unrelated to the club and not by the club itself. All six had denied the charge and, eventually, after seven months of "investigation," the charge was dropped.
[
The other charge against each agent was that they did not have written agreements, a.k.a. "representation contracts," to act for the club when conducting negotiations. F.A. stated it is continuing with that one. Denos, Manasseh and Berry have admitted the charge but Andrew, Curtis and Mills denied it and requested personal hearings.][
Agent Andrew Mills, who had never previously been charged with any disciplinary offence since he began as a FIFA-licensed agent in 1993, stated that he was disappointed by the "sensationalist coverage" of the case. "The headlines suggested there had been serious wrongdoing," Mills said. "It is now clear that was not the case."][
]
See also
*2016 English football scandal
The 2016 English football scandal was a sports corruption scandal which began on 26 September 2016 following the publishing of the first part of ''The Daily Telegraph'' newspaper's "Football for Sale" investigation into corruption in English foot ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 English Football Corruption Investigation
2006 Corruption
Corruption English
Association football controversies
Controversies in England
Corruption in England
COn
Sports scandals in England