Future transfers in the Premier League will be subject to random
spot-checks by investigators.
The move follows the final report by former Metropolitan Police
commissioner Lord Stevens into alleged illegal payments.
His findings cleared all Premier League clubs of paying or
receiving bungs but raised separate concerns about two managers and
a number of agents.
The Premier League said they and the FA have agreed to carry out
random spot-checks on future transfers using Quest
investigators.
The league said in their report to clubs: 'With regards to the
future, the Premier League and the FA have agreed to carry out a
random audit of selected transfers from each window in order to
further ensure compliance.
'The Premier League will be asking Quest to assist them in this and
it may transpire that this becomes a joint initiative subject to
agreement with the FA.'
Stevens expressed concerns over 'a conflict of interest' involving
Sam Allardyce and his former agent son Craig while at Bolton.
He also points to 'inconsistencies in evidence' provided by former
Newcastle manager Graeme Souness.
Deals involving Chelsea, Newcastle, Bolton, Middlesbrough and
Portsmouth have all been highlighted by Quest in their final report
to the Premier League.
The main focus of the report targets agents although the clubs are
set to face a further investigation from the Football
Association.
Stevens expressed concern about 15 agents and third parties
involved in some 17 transfers.
He said in the report: 'The inquiry remains concerned at the
conflict of interest that it believes existed between Craig
Allardyce, his father Sam Allardyce the then manager at Bolton
Wanderers and the club itself.'
He went on: 'There remain inconsistencies in evidence provided by
Graeme Souness a former manager of the club and Newcastle chairman
Freddy Shepherd's son Kenneth Shepherd as to their respective roles
in transfer negotiations.'
Souness was baffled to be named. He said in a statement issued by
his solicitors: '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.'
Of the 17 transfers named by Stevens, all remain under
investigation because of unsatisfactory responses from agents -
including super-agent Pini Zahavi.
Four relate to Newcastle signings (Emre Belozoglu, Jean Alain
Boumsong, Amady Faye, Albert Luque), four to Bolton (Ali Al-Habsi,
Tal Ben Haim, Blessing Kaku, Julio Correia), three to Chelsea
(Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Michael Essien), three to Portsmouth
(Collins Mbesuma, Benjani Mwaruwari, Aliou Cisse), two to
Middlesbrough (Ayegbeni Yakubu and Fabio Rochemback), and one
remains undisclosed.
Zahavi's lawyer Ehud Shochatovitch said: 'My client believes he has
been targeted because he is successful and enjoys a high profile in
the football world.'
The Premier League will now send the findings to the FA and FIFA
who will decide whether to take disciplinary action.
An FA spokesman said: 'The FA will give full consideration to its
contents and the documentation that is due to be passed on by the
Premier League and Quest.
'We will now go through their information as part of our governance
and regulation process. This will determine what action is
required.'