Updated: Sep. 19, 2006
Allardyce fingered in TV bungs exposure
Bolton manager Sam Allardyce was at the centre of allegations about
illegal payments in football made by the BBC's Panorama programme
on Tuesday night.
'Undercover: Football's Dirty Secrets' alleged that Allardyce and
his son Craig, a football agent, received illegal payments.
The programme also made a number of other allegations of wrongdoing
by several other figures in the game. All those named in the
programme have issued statements to the BBC denying they have done
anything wrong.
The Football Association said tonight they have asked for any
evidence uncovered by Panorama and will investigate 'any possible
breach of the rules'.
The programme, which used an undercover reporter posing as an
agent, also alleged that:
Three agents named in the programme admitted giving bungs.
Newcastle assistant manager Kevin Bond admitted he would consider
discussing receiving payments from agents.
Frank Arnesen, Chelsea's director of youth football, offered
Middlesbrough 15-year-old England youth star Nathan Porritt
£150,000 over three years to move clubs.
Liverpool also tried to tempt Porritt from Middlesbrough.
Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp was involved in 'tapping up' a
player.
Panorama used undercover reporter Knut auf dem Berge, a
UEFA-licensed coach who has worked in England for the last eight
years, to gather evidence for the programme.
A BBC Panorama press release says: 'In undercover filming three
different agents name Sam Allardyce, a recent candidate for the
England manager's job, as a corrupt manager. Two of them say that
they have made illegal payments to Sam Allardyce personally.
'Peter Harrison, an agent known to be close to Allardyce, is
secretly filmed saying that he bribes Sam by offering to pay his
son Craig. He says: 'If I say `Listen Sam, I'll give Craig some
money'... he'll say `Yeah, OK, we'll do a deal.'
'Panorama has also uncovered that three different Bolton transfer
signings (of defender Tal Ben Haim, Japanese star Hidi Nakata, and
goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi) involved secret payments from agents to
Craig Allardyce. The programme understands that Craig Allardyce
received around £50,000 for the deal involving Ben Haim. At the
time Craig was contractually banned from doing any Bolton
deals.
'In the case of two of these deals (Nakata and Ali Al-Habsi), the
agent secretly paying Craig was Peter Harrison.
'Craig admitted to BBC reporter Alex Millar that his father Sam
Allardyce did know about these payments, saying: 'Yeah course he
knew course he knew... I've never hidden anything.'
Panorama's allegations against Arnesen, Liverpool and Redknapp
appear to be less clear-cut. This is because the programme shows
agent Peter Harrison making the first approach - about Porritt to
Arnesen and Liverpool, and Blackburn skipper Andy Todd to
Redknapp.
Three agents - Harrison, Teni Yerima and Charles Collymore - tell
Panorama that football managers take bungs.
The BBC release said: 'Talking about the possibility of setting up
a new agency,
Peter Harrison says: 'You'll have to pay the managers to get them
on side.'
He says: 'I think you've got to be giving them at least £100,000 a
year and then you'll make £500,000 a year.
'Harrison makes a series of admissions, including admitting how he
had arranged to pay a major club's chief scout a £30,000 bung in
January this year.'
Panorama also claims that Bolton chairman Phil Gartside misled his
own club's fans by complaining in the press in August 2005 about an
'illegal approach' to then captain Jay-Jay Okocha.
'In fact eight days earlier, Gartside had been in a room with the
agent (Teni Yerima) that he was complaining about, negotiating to
sell Okocha,' says Panorama.
All the figures named by the programme have issued denials to the
BBC. These included:
Sam Allardyce told the BBC that he has never taken asked for or
received a bung and would not condone any breaches of the FA rules
- whatever personal affection he has for his son.
Craig Allardyce said he was exaggerating his own importance to
the undercover reporter in order to attract opportunities. He
denied any wrongdoing in his Bolton deals or in his relationship
with the club.
Peter Harrison denied he is a corrupt agent and says that
everything he said to Knut was merely pub gossip and banter.
Teni Yerima told the BBC that he made everything up as part of
his plan to find out who Knut was working for.
Charles Collymore told Panorama he had made up what he said to
find out Knut's real agenda.
Kevin Bond told the BBC he was not interested in receiving bungs.
He also says no-one he has ever worked with has taken a bung.
Harry Redknapp denied his conversation with Harrison regarding
Todd amounted to `tapping up'.
Both Chelsea and Liverpool denied the meetings filmed by the BBC
broke any industry rules.
Phil Gartside told the BBC he had not wanted to sell Okocha but
could not ignore a generous offer for his player.
