Sting operation reveals England manager Sam Allardyce involved in bribing player agencies

09/27/2016

Sam Allardyce's job as the England manager might be on the line after he was exposed by a couple of reporters from Telegraph in a sting operation. Sam reportedly had used his position to negotiate a deal worth £400,000 with a football agency to secure an unnamed footballer's transfer.

In a shocking reveal by the newspaper Telegraph, Allardyce, who had succeeded Roy Hodgson as England's boss following their group-stage defeat in the Euro 2016, was caught explaining how to circumvent the rules of FA to buy stakes in Premier League clubs to two businessmen from Singapore.

Allardyce had also agreed to travel to Singapore in the meeting with the two men, which stretched across four hours. The Englishman was oblivious to the fact that he was being filmed as part of a 10-month long investigation by the Telegraph that has unearthed widespread evidence of bribery and corruption in British football.

The issue of “third-party ownership” in football has been described as “slavery” which allows companies to own a stake in a footballer. The FA banned this practice in 2008, and football’s world governing body, FIFA, followed in 2015 by banning the concept of third-party ownership.

Telegraph also reported that Sam had revealed to the reporters ways to circumvent the “ridiculous” rules put in by his employers. Allardyce also told the undercover reporters that third-party ownership was still possible in “all of South America, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, all of Africa” and that Ecuadorian player Enner Valencia had been under a third-party ownership agreement when Allardyce signed him for £12 million for West Ham from a Mexican club in 2014.

The report also spoke about Allardyce criticizing his predecessor Roy Hodgson as being “too indecisive” and his assistant Gary Neville for being a “wrong influence” on the squad which returned home after a defeat to Iceland and a draw against Russia in the group stages of Euro 2016 in France.

Following this revelations, the FA will meet on Tuesday morning with new chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn deciding to investigate into the matter.

"I want all the facts, to hear everything from everyone and make a judgement about what to do," Greg Clarke told the Daily Mail, on Monday. Looks like the bad days for England's national team are not yet over.

Click here to watch a clip of the sting operation conducted by the Telegraph.

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