The League Managers Association has demanded the Daily Telegraph furnish it with “full disclosure” of every detail relating to the its investigation into corruption in professional football. The newspaper said on Thursday that the police has asked to review the information first.
Already the revelations have prompted Sam Allardyce’s removal as the England manager over his comments regarding third-party ownership of players to undercover reporters. There are also allegations about coaches accepting “bungs”.
Tommy Wright, the assistant manager of Barnsley has been sacked by the Championship club after being filmed allegedly accepting a £5,000 cash payment from undercover reporters. He has denied wrongdoing.
The Telegraph said: “Telegraph Media Group said on Tuesday [27 September]that we would release to the FA the relevant transcripts of our investigation into football corruption. It remains our intention to do so. However, the police have asked to review this information first. The FA and the Premier League are aware of this.”
Like the Football Association, the LMA is taking the Telegraph’s reportage extremely seriously but with certain of its members – most notably Allardyce – complaining of entrapment both bodies want access to the “unedited” version of the inquiry.
It said in a statement: “Following further revelations by the Telegraph and a follow-up LMA meeting with the FA this morning, the LMA remains extremely concerned about allegations made against a number of managers and individuals in the game.
“Alongside the FA, and the other principal stakeholders in the game, we want to fully investigate any and all substantive allegations of corruption, quickly and comprehensively. Very disappointingly, this process is being delayed as the Telegraph is yet to provide to the FA, as requested, full and complete unconditional disclosure of all the information it has.
“We urge the Telegraph to provide full disclosure of all its information relating to the allegations, including all recordings, transcripts and full details of how the information was obtained, to the FA, immediately. This information should not be provided selectively but unedited and unconditionally in order that a fully comprehensive investigation can be expedited.”
