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Kevin Bond sacked by Newcastle

Former Newcastle United assistant manager Kevin Bond is pictured during a training session at an undisclosed location on July 14. PHOTO: AP

Newcastle fired assistant coach Kevin Bond yesterday, six days after he was implicated in an investigation into bribery in English soccer.

Newcastle had put Bond on paid leave since the screening of a BBC investigation last Wednesday. The bribery allegations stem from when Bond was assistant to Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth.

"Newcastle United has terminated Kevin Bond's contract," the club said in statement. "There is no further comment from the club."

The BBC's Panorama program broadcast a telephone conversation between Bond and a representative of a fictitious agency, during which it's alleged he discussed the possibility of receiving payments.

Bond, who joined Newcastle as an assistant to manager Glenn Roeder in July, said last week he would sue the BBC for libel.

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce was also named in the program as a manager who benefited from illegal payments from soccer agents. He denies the allegations.

English soccer officials opened an inquiry into the claims after the program was screened. Former London police chief John Stevens is also expected to review the BBC evidence for his inquiry into soccer corruption, which is scheduled to report its finding on Oct. 2.

Soccer's governing body met with the BBC on Monday, and demanded "all of the information it obtained" in researching the program, but were left frustrated by the BBC's reluctance to cooperate fully on the grounds it would compromise sources.

Allardyce, meanwhile, looks almost certain to begin legal proceedings against the BBC and was involved in an angry exchange with a reporter who asked if he had ever been offered a financial inducement to sign a player following Bolton's win at Portsmouth on Monday.
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