The Association of Football Agents has called for a complete overhaul of its regulation system following the revelations into football corruption made public this week by the Daily Telegraph.
The Association says the deregulation of the industry has ‘not worked’, and has pledged to help any investigation into the allegations which have seen England manager Sam Allardyce lose his job and several unnamed managers scrutinised over alleged bungs.
Allardyce left his England post by mutual consent after just 67 days in the light of the investigation from the Telegraph, with FA chief executive Martin Glenn saying: “His behaviour has been inappropriate and frankly not what is expected of an England manager”.
Meanwhile eight as-yet-unnamed current or former Premier League managers are alleged by agents to have taken under-the-table payments in relation to player transfers and/or contracts.
And the AFA has called for widespread change to the licensing and regulation system, both in the United Kingdom and overseas, following a board meeting in London on Wednesday.
‘We are totally committed to helping any investigation into the various allegations and to continue to work with the relevant football authorities, led by the FA, to further explore what steps can be taken by English football to put in place an effective system of licensing and codes of conduct for agents,’ the statement reads.
Statement from the Association of Football Agents. Hard to argue. pic.twitter.com/JsFrHMH4RH
— Owen Gibson (@owen_g) September 28, 2016
Video shared by the Telegraph shows agents – named as Scott McGarvey, Pino Pagliara and Dax Price – alleging a number of managers have taken bungs and discussing the level of corruption allegedly prevalent in top-level football.
However Allardyce, when asked about such payments during the undercover investigation, reportedly said “It used to happen 20 odd years ago, 30 years ago. You can’t do it now.”
