Football agent reveals how corruption is so rife, even the kitmen are on the take
Gary Lineker leads calls for an investigation into eight top bosses accused of bungs
CORRUPTION and greed in football is so widespread even kitmen are on the take, a football agent claimed last night.
The insider revealed how some wealthy managers line their own pockets three times in a single transfer.
Match of the Day host Gary Lineker last night led calls for an investigation into eight top bosses accused of bungs.
He said: “Surely it’s time for a proper police investigation into such allegations. The game is rife with corruption and needs cleaning up. Now!”
But one agent claimed the FA was powerless to do anything — as even clubs’ lowest-paid members of staff were on the take.
He said: “Football is so corrupt, even the kitman is in on it sometimes. The number of people getting paid is staggering.
“And try as the FA might, there’s nothing that can be done to stop it.”
One current boss — who has spent years in top-flight football — was said to take thousands of pounds during a single transfer by “triple dipping”.
He first creams off part of an agent’s fee for persuading his client to sign, then gets an appearance bonus written in the contract.
He tells the player to give him a slice if he wants to play.
Finally, once the player has racked up Premier League games, he can be sold on for a higher fee — and the manager will receive another payment from the agent or the buying chairman.
The source said: “One guy does it all the time. He agrees with an agent to sign a player, and takes a cut of the fee the agent receives, which could be worth £200,000 on a £2million deal.
“The manager will then give the player game time, but only if he agrees to hand over half of his appearance fee, which will be a few grand.
“Then after the player has games under his belt for a Premier League team, he is worth more. When the sale is carried out, the manager gets a piece of it again from either the agent or the chief exec as a thank you. It happens all the time.”
It came as a dossier of explosive new corruption claims was yesterday handed to the FA.
Football agents accusing eight managers of taking bungs were secretly recorded by undercover journalists posing as businessmen.
A similar sting led this week to Sam Allardyce quitting the England job over a £400,000 dodgy deal scandal.
Last night former England boss Steve McClaren warned it “could happen to any of us”.
He told The Sun: “It’s been a hugely disappointing couple of days for English football. And I’m very sad for what has happened to Sam Allardyce.
“It could happen to any of us in a high-profile sports position. Sam innocently paid the price.
“Privacy can only be found in the four walls of your home. If wrongdoing can be proved it should be cut from the game.”
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In the new dossier is a video of an assistant manager at a top club accepting £5,000 in a dodgy deal.
Unlicensed agent Pino Pagliara, who was banned for match-fixing in Italy in 2005, also rattled off a list of “bent” bosses in a boozy meeting at Manchester restaurant San Carlo.
He said of one: “We know him very well. We do a transfer to [named club], [X] has winked at us and said, ‘Yeah, I want him.”
He said the boss always asked: “Is there a little coffee for me?”
Another “very bent” famous boss allegedly asked for kickbacks to be deposited in an offshore account when transfers were agreed.
Mr Pagliara and two other agents claimed to have personally paid off five Premier League managers and identified three well-known others.
The Italian bragged: “There’s one thing I’ve always been able to rely on, and that is the greed of general managers.”
Asked if he meant those working in England, he replied, “Here it’s even worse. I thought the Italians were corrupt.”
Ex-Manchester United player-turned-agent Scott McGarvey also named four managers who allegedly take bribes, while admitting to paying two personally.
All the bosses accused of taking bungs deny the allegations.
When confronted, Mr Pagliara and Mr McGarvey both denied paying any managers.
The FA is also being urged to investigate Allardyce over his former player Ravel Morrison’s loan to Cardiff from West Ham in 2014.
Auditors found evidence of unexplained payments, while Allardyce also allegedly pushed Morrison to sign up with his own agent.
When he refused, club sources claim he was dropped from the team. The former Manchester United ace said in a cryptic message on Twitter yesterday: “No 1 listened to a word I said.”
Mike Miller, of the Association of Football Agents, said there is a need for “greater transparency and a new regulatory framework”.
He added: “The global move to deregulation has not worked and it has allowed the system to be more open to manipulation and abuse.”
Fans also blasted the FA for failing to act on allegations of corruption stretching back years.
Andy Cross, 28, of Oldham said: “It smacks of hypocrisy. The whole thing stinks. One minute we’ve got the FA and Premier League calling Fifa and Uefa crooked, and the next they’re being accused of exactly the same thing.
Ex-FA chairman Greg Dyke said of Allardyce, who was earning £3million a year: “It tells you something about the man, that just after getting the England job, he is prepared to go to a meeting to get another £400,000.”
Premier League boss Richard Scudamore said it will cooperate with any investigation, insisting it has the “will to manage whatever issues come along”.
Sports Minister Tracey Crouch, who is to meet FA officials, said: “All the evidence presented to them must be investigated fully and we stand ready to assist in any way we can.”
EIGHT TOP BOSSES IN THE FRAME
THE alleged greed of eight top managers has been laid bare in secret recordings made of disgraced football agent Pino Pagliara by undercover reporters.
The names of the footie bosses have not yet been revealed.
Here are the damaging accusations Pagliara makes against them:
MANAGER 1
THIS former Premier League boss is alleged to request his bungs in cash or to a Swiss bank account.
Unlicensed Italian agent Pino Pagliara told undercover reporters: “All it is with [X] is ‘How much, Pino? And will it be the same Swiss bank account?’”
MANAGER 2
EX-top flight manager who used to take backhanders but now presents himself as a reformed character.
Pagliara said: “This is what I hate... the guy that used to need the money but he’s had so much now that all of a sudden he’s whiter than white.”
MANAGER 3
A VETERAN of several British clubs, this manager was allegedly fired by one chairman after being caught with “his fingers in the till”.
Pagliara warned you needed “a carrier bag with some cash” if you were dealing with him.
MANAGER 4
THIS boss demands bungs by asking agents for “a little coffee for me” when brokering transfer signings.
Pagliara said: “We do a transfer, [X] has winked at us and said ‘Yeah, I want the player. Is there a little coffee for me, Pino?’”
MANAGER 5
ANOTHER former Premier League manager who would ring agents and give them the numbers for Swiss bank accounts.
MANAGER 6
THIS former player turned manager supplements his salary with bungs because he feels he is underpaid.
Pagliara said: “[X] takes a few [inaudible] because he’s not being paid big money.”
MANAGER 7
PAGLIARA said this ex-Premier League manager could be “put on the payroll”.
If a player was transferred for £10m, “we’ll turn round to [X] and say, listen, if you take this player we’ll look after you. OK? OK, boom.”
MANAGER 8
AGENT Dax Price said this long-serving manager would pay three players an extra £8,000 per month on the understanding that then they gave him back £4,000 per month each.
3 BUNGS FROM JUST ONE DEAL
ONE of the most common scams is the so-called “triple dip” — when a manager pockets three illegal payments in just one transfer.
A current manager, who has worked in the top flight for several years, is said to be particularly notorious, according to one agent.
The boss, who is a household name, allegedly creams off several thousand pounds each time.
The agent said: “He does it all the time.”
