London - Eight current or former Premier League football
managers were on Tuesday accused of taking kick-backs for player transfers, as
part of a broader newspaper sting which led to England manager Sam Allardyce
being axed.
Three agents were filmed discussing corruption in football
and the use of illegal "bung" payments to sign players, which the
Daily Telegraph said involved eight current or former Premier League managers
and two second-tier Championship bosses.
Italian agent Giuseppe Pagliara said he opened Swiss bank
accounts for managers and worked through intermediaries to cover the illegal
payments.
"There's one thing that I've always been able to rely
on, and that is the greed of general managers," he told an undercover
reporter. The journalist met Pagliara over lunch at Manchester's San Carlo
restaurant, the newspaper said.
The Italian claimed one manager who had worked in the
Premier League would use a code to ask if he would receive a cash injection:
"Is there a little coffee for me, Pino?"
Football agent Dax Price claimed one manager would increase
players' wages and arrange for each of them to pay him a $5 200 monthly cut.
"It's almost like corruption is just staring you in the
face," he was recorded saying.
A third agent, former Manchester United player Scott
McGarvey, said he gave an associate 30 000 pounds to secure a player transfer.
He explained he would arrange payments through an account in Monaco.
The Daily Telegraph did not name the managers allegedly
involved, while it stated the three agents repeated many of the same names. The
newspaper said it has passed transcripts of the conversations to the English
Football Association and the police.
Pagliara denied making payments to managers and a spokesman
for McGarvey denied any wrongdoing, while Price said he would not respond to
the investigation without further detail, the newspaper reported.
The allegations follow the departure on Tuesday of Allardyce
as England manager, a day after the Daily Telegraph published footage of him
discussing the banned system of third-party ownership of players.
Allardyce was also filmed negotiating lucrative speaking
engagements in Asia and making damaging remarks about the FA and his
predecessor Roy Hodgson.
The 61-year-old was axed just 67 days into the job as England manager, after he and the FA agreed his position had become untenable.