Sam Allardyce has reportedly resigned as England's soccer manager, the Telegraph reported on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Telegraph published secret video of Allardyce allegedly using his position as England manager to negotiate a deal worth £400,000 ($518,460) in which he would reportedly give advice to businessmen on how to "get around" FA rules regarding third-party ownership.
The businessmen in the video, however, were actually undercover journalists. Allardyce can be seen in the video saying that third-party ownership is still possible.
"It’s not a problem," he said in the video.
Many have compared "third party ownership" to sports indentured servitude, as third parties — often wealthy businessmen — own monetary shares in different players. The practice has been outlawed by England's Football Association since 2008.
"A £400,000 agreement with a football agency firm is a potential conflict of interest for an international football manager as it raises the possibility that he is "employed" by a company whose footballer clients could benefit from preferential treatment."
"Allardyce told undercover reporters that the banned practice was still possible in "all of South America, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, all of Africa" and that the Ecuadorean player Enner Valencia had been under a third party ownership agreement when he signed him for £12 million for West Ham from a Mexican club in 2014."
Allardyce took over as England manager on July 22, 2016. He coached just one game, a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Slovakia that England won in stoppage time.
"It was a great honour for me to be appointed back in July and I am deeply disappointed at this outcome," he said in a statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment