English Football in Serious Trouble

This time, it was Colin Gordon, players’ agent, who gave more details : One does not talk any more about bribes of £50,000 pounds (75,000 €), nor of brown envelopes stuffed with banknotes. We are talking now of millions upon millions of pounds.

In the words of Colin Gordon, “Are all agents corrupt ? Not all. But the majority are. We claim to be cleaner than others in Europe. But I discussed it abroad, where British football is seen as the sick man of Europe. If I buy a player in Eastern Europe and his club puts a price on his head of £2,000,000, I say to myself : ‘I can sell him for £5,000,000 in England.’” The club gets £500,000 and the £2.5 million that remain are put in ’special accounts’. Since the Premier League was set up, I would say that tens of millions of pounds have disappeared this way.”

The English Football Federation has expressed suspicions about some one hundred transfers out 362 of players between 2004 and 2006.