The news of Sam Allardyce’s England departure will perhaps sting Sunderland fans more than most. Sunderland fans were hurt to lose their best manager in years to the national team but could not begrudge their saviour his dream job. However, his dream job lasted just over 30 days and he saw his side play just one game.
Allardyce was caught out by undercover journalists working for the Daily Telegraph. The former Sunderland boss told who he thought were business working for a Far East Firm that it was “not a problem” to get around FA rules that prevent third parties ownership in footballers’ economic rights.
Such practice was banned in 2008 after concerns from the FA that it compromised the nobility of the game, as the third party would profit whenever a player was sold.
Bending rules is 'not a problem'
Allardyce was filmed on a hidden camera and when asked about the rules he simply stated: “It’s not a problem.”
He then revealed that an unnamed group had been “doing it for years” and “you can still get around it”.
The now ex-England boss’s revelations are set to send shockwaves through English football and it is likely that a huge investigation and shake-up are on the cards.
He then added: “You get a percentage of the player’s agent’s fee that the agent pays to you, the company, because he’s done that new deal at the club again or they sell him on, and you’re not getting a part of the transfer fee any more, because you can’t do that."
He was not shy to discuss figures, as he drank a pint of wine: “But, you get - because of the size of the contracts now, the contract will be worth thirty, forty million, at 10% and you’ve done a deal with the agent where you’re getting 5% of the agent’s fee, which is massive for doing about two hours’ work.”
It’s a huge disappointment for the FA, particularly after paying Sunderland a mega compensation package worth £3million. And after working towards his dream job for 25 years, Allardyce will definitely be ruing that fateful ‘business meeting’.