Allardyce attacks BBC 'lies'

'As a result of their greed, my good name has been tarnished by deceit and innuendo.'

Sean Ingle

Wednesday September 20, 2006

Guardian Unlimited

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce has dismissed all allegations of corruption made against him by last night's BBC's Panorama Undercover: Football's Dirty Secrets as "lies" - and says he will be taking legal action.

The programme, the result of a nine-month undercover investigation, investigated a number of cases of rule-breaking, tapping up and bung-taking - but the central allegations were made against Allardyce, who was accused by three agents of being willing to accept illegal payments over the transfer of players.

Today, however, a defiant Allardyce insisted that neither he, or his son Craig - who was also accused of taking bungs in the programme - had done anything wrong. "I am very angry at the lies told about me," he told reporters. "The individuals who appeared in the programme, making accusations against me have already confirmed in writing to my lawyers that they lied to the BBC. They lied in the hope of being able to make millions offered by the BBC undercover reporter to buy their sports agency businesses.

"Those individuals never thought their lies would be exposed in the way that they have been and have apologised to me. As a result of their greed, my good name has been tarnished by deceit and innuendo."

Allardyce, who watched the programme late last night after Bolton's 3-1 win at Walsall in the Carling Cup, added: "In addition, as a father, of course, it is painful to watch your son talk tall and exaggerate his influence for financial gain. If there is any real evidence - and there won't be, as I am utterly innocent of any wrongdoing - I would expect the BBC to give that evidence both to the FA and the Premier League's Quest inquiry.

"Obviously, I am denying all allegations that have been alleged against me," he said. "I have instructed my lawyers to take the appropriate action."

Bolton, meanwhile, have promised to launch a "thorough and robust" investigation into allegations made by the programme, which also accused Craig Allardyce of accepting money for his part in two deals, even though the sums were never registered with the FA - an allegation he denies.

Earlier the Football Association and Premier League promised an "exhaustive and thorough" inquiry into the "serious allegations" made by the BBC programme, which also alleged that Chelsea had tapped up Middlesbrough's England youth international Nathan Porritt - an allegation Chelsea deny.

However every agent, manager and club named by the programme for alleged wrongdoing will be investigated, with FA chief Brian Barwick admitting: "These are serious allegations which have been made by Panorama and we are determined to investigate them fully. It is vital for the integrity of the game and for every football supporter that we do this.

"We will work in close co-operation with the Premier League. As with any investigation, we will ensure that our inquiries are exhaustive and thorough," he added. "If we find evidence of corruption we will act on it. We recognise our responsibility."

One probe relating to players' agents and connected activities will be carried out by the FA alone, and another investigation by the FA and Premier League jointly. Among those being investigated by both bodies will be Frank Arnesen, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Harry Redknapp - who were all accused by the programme of making illegal approaches to players.

Other allegations, such as those relating to players' agents and connected activities, will be investigated by the FA alone. They will cover the allegations against the Allardyces, Peter Harrison, Charles Collymore and Kevin Bond. Bond, a first-team coach at Newcastle, has already instructed his lawyers to take legal action, claiming his comments were "taken out of context and presented in a completely misleading manner".

In a short statement the BBC later said it will co-operate with the requests relating to last night's programme "from the relevant investigating authorities, and will do so in line with our normal processes and procedures in cases of this kind."

Sports minister Richard Caborn has insisted that transfer bungs can be eradicated from football, just as drug abuse has been tackled in sport. "Everyone was saying we would not rout out cheats in sport on anti-doping but we are doing that now systematically," he said.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,1876950,00.html

My View:

I actually watched the programme yesterday and was amazed at finding the corruption of certain clubs in the Premiership, especially after the incident in the Italian league, resulting in Juventus getting relegated out of Serie A. What disappointed me more so was that my team, Liverpool, was amogst one of the clubs alleged with illegal operations for the transfer of players. It just goes to show that even something simple as football, or sport in general, more to the fact, cannot steer away from fraud, and players/staff/managers of a dishonest nature. I do believe that the allegations made can possibly be true, however in some cases, people are proved to be wrong. What do you think?