Chimbonda's agent gave him a loan

Willie McKay, an agent for English Tottenham's Pascal Chimbonda, said he gave the player a GBP 18,000 loan after he left English Wigan, but also admitted he gave loans to other players, too.

"Pascal had just joined Spurs and was a bit short at the time, so I gave him some money," McKay was quated in teamtalk.com. "He rang me up and asked if I could lend him GBP 18,000 so I said 'no problem, just come up and get it.'

"I didn't want to give him cash so it was a cheque and he signed a bit of paper for it. They should really be calling me Father Christmas," McKay told The People.

"I have done this before for many of my players if they are short at any time. If it was underhand why would I give him a cheque from my bank account?

"I am amazed that this information has been leaked and I wonder about the agenda of the people involved. It would be laughable if it wasn't so serious."

City of London police, who are investigating fraud in football, arrested and questioned Chimbonda, 28, on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. He is out on bail until October, and played in Tottenham's 3-1 defeat against English Arsenal on Saturday.

He was the second person to be arrested by the police in its investigation. A 61-year-old man was arrested in Manchester in March on suspicion of money laundering.

English clubs Newcastle and Portsmouth, along with Scottish Rangers, were raided in July by the City of London police, who took the clubs' computers and documents.

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