Stevens reveals recommendations

The bungs inquiry still continues to an extent, with Lord Stevens announcing Wednesday that 17 of 362 investigated deals still are under question, but also making 39 recommendations.

Stevens said he would not reveals which ones were still not cleared, nor would he name the players who are involved.

Stevens said his nine-month investigation was made all the more difficult due to a lack of cooperation from eight agents. As a result, Stevens, again, has asked the Premier League to extend his inquiry. Yet Mel Stein, acting chairman of the Association of Football Agents, refuted that claim.

Still, the Premier League agreed to Stevens' request and asked the Football Association to help in making it a joint inquiry. FIFA will play the heavy in terms of ensuring the cooperation of agents.

Stevens said there are 39 recommendations regarding transfers. He called the most important tenet one in which a preventative "independent forensic financial unit and an audit of a proportion of the transfers in any transfer window." He went on to say that the FA and the compliance arms of clubs enjoy no public trust.

"We will be providing the Premier League with a number of instances where the mandated processes and procedures have not been followed correctly," he said. "It will be up to the Premier League and the FA to determine whether these constitute breaches of the rules."

"The frequency of these instances show that the clubs neither anticipate or are concerned by the strictures that might be imposed by the FA. My feeling is that this further erodes the reputation of the game and those involved with it.

Stevens said all his recommendations had to be implemented. Yet many of the finer points from a 1997 bungs inquiry have not been made part of the game.

"Failure to do so will result in the game remaining under attack and its remaining members (being) subject to allegations and innuendo," he said.

The Quest inquiry found at least three clubs have failed to maintain proper accounts of their transfer payments, and could face discipline. Sixteen additional Premier League clubs, also unnamed, failed to document financial arrangements connected to their transfers appropriately on at least one occasion.

Also revealed was that players often are unaware how much their agents are receiving. In 15 transfers, the agents' fees were more than the player's annual salary.

Significant conflicts of interest were uncovered, including payments by an agent to a firm managed by a relative of a club official. One agent acted for two clubs and a player in a single transfer.

Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police commissioner made some harsh criticisms of the FA and the accounting procedures of some unnamed clubs.

The FA reacted felt hurt by the criticism against them. Chief executive Brian Barwick claimed all but one of Stevens' recommendations are being introduced in May anyway, and that there was "little detail concerning irregular transfer activities" in the inquiry's findings.

Despite no bungs being yet uncovered, Stevens and Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore had to brush aside accusations that the inquiry was essentially a whitewash.

And, at the same time, Scudamore claimed the game was clean as no bungs were yet uncovered.

"It would be inappropriate at this stage to name people who may or may not have breached the rules," Scudmore said.

Stein felt the emphasis of the investigation was pushed away from clubs and toward the agents.

"All of the leading agents are represented on the board of the Association of Football Agents," Stein said. "Every single one has fully co-operated with Lord Stevens. "This effective innuendo that has covered us all is unacceptable. He needs to say which agents didn't co-operate. I've no idea who they are. They are probably running for cover, but they are not ours."

Among Stevens' recommendations is that the PFA should not, as it does on many occasions, act as agent to players during transfers. Instead, the organisation should only educate and advise players dealing with clubs and agents.

Clubs should not pay agents who represent players. The Players should pay, and submit annual statements detailing how much they have paid their agents.

An agent who is a close relative of a club official should not be the manager's agent or receive any payment from any transaction associated with that club. A manager's agent also should not act for any players at that club or act on a transfer involving that club.

Solid punishments should be meted out by the FA for breaching transfer rules.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.