England assistant manager Sammy Lee has seen a ruling over his alleged provision of false evidence upheld by an appeal court.
The ruling relates to the transfer of former England midfielder Gavin McCann to Bolton Wanderers in 2007, when Lee – part of the England setup under Sam Allardyce and Gareth Southgate – was manager of the then-Premier League club.
McCann was one of six players brought to Bolton by Lee in his one transfer window in charge.
Lee took over from predecessor Sam Allardyce in the summer of 2007 but left the club in October of that year after a poor start to the season.
And the charge, which follows a 2014 court case, relates to agents’ fees paid in connection with McCann’s move from Aston Villa.
Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
The Guardian report that the midfielder’s former agent Tony McGill accused another agency – SEM – of ‘poaching’ McCann after the deal with Bolton was already agreed and receiving a six-figure payment from the club for minimal work.
The judge in McGill’s 2014 case, Judge Waksman QC, ruled that meetings between Bolton and McCann – presented as evidence by Lee and Bolton’s then general manager Frank McParland – were “riddled with inconsistencies and different versions over time.”
Waksman later described the same evidence as “false”, ruling that the meetings in question “simply did not happen”, and appeal court judges Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Mr Justice Henderson have upheld Judge Waksman’s factual findings.
“They now know Bolton submitted a false and backdated contract, that Sammy Lee and Frank McParland gave evidence in court the judge dismissed as untrue, but the FA have done nothing,” McGill told the Guardian.
At the time of writing, the FA is yet to issue a statement in relation to the ruling against Lee.
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