8 English Premier League managers accused of taking bribes

london — The League Managers Association (LMA) is “extremely concerned” by newspaper allegations that Premier League managers have received “bungs” for player transfers, it said on Wednesday.

The Daily Telegraph reported that eight current and former managers had received money for transfers after the paper filmed soccer agents boasting about how many managers they had paid off.

Pino Pagliara, an unlicensed Italian agent who was banned from football for five years for his role in match-fixing in 2005, was filmed alongside two other agents, naming managers, including five they claimed to have personally paid off.

The newspaper has agreed to pass transcripts to the FA, English football’s governing body, as well as handing information to the police. “The LMA is extremely concerned by the current situation of allegations made against a number of managers. We take the allegations very seriously as they are obviously damaging to the game,” the LMA said in a statement.

“We are in regular communication with The FA to establish the facts relating to those allegations.

“We know The FA has requested full disclosure, from the Telegraph, of all the relevant information it has and we are working with The FA in dealing with the allegations, following the correct processes and procedures.”

The allegations have once again shone a spotlight on the role of football agents and the regulatory framework that governs them.

The chairman of the Association of Football Agents (AFA), Mike Miller, issued a statement on

The global move to deregulation has not worked

Miller, AFA chairman

Wednesday saying there was a need for greater transparency.

Miller highlighted the decision by world governing body FIFA to end its global licensing system for agents in 2015, which left it up to individual countries to supervise “intermediaries”.

“The global move to deregulation has not worked and it has allowed the system to be more open to manipulation and abuse,” Miller said. “The time has come for the key stakeholders in this country to genuinely come together to establish a new framework for the future and we would be happy to progress those discussions with immediate effect,” he added.

“Ultimately, changes to the current set-up should also be enforceable globally and this must involve UEFA and FIFA to help spread best practice around the world and reintroduce a system of licensing and regulation which works and meaningful.”

The LMA said it had no objection to the FA sacking England manager Sam Allardyce after the Telegraph reported that he offered advice to a bogus group of Far East businessmen on how to get around rules on player transfers. “With regard to Sam Allardyce’s departure from his role at The FA, the LMA was in regular communication with Sam and The FA throughout the process. We fully respect the decision that they have mutually agreed,” the LMA said. — is