Sun, Jun 17, 2007 page23

• Five soccer clubs named in Stevens' report

  • AP
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  Chelsea and Newcastle United were among five Premier League clubs named on Friday in an official report into alleged irregularities in soccer transfer payments.

  Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough and Portsmouth were also cited in the report by former London police chief John Stevens, who called on the English Football Association and world governing body FIFA to investigate the conduct of certain agents.

  After media allegations that managers, players or agents had been taking kickbacks from transfers, Stevens spent two years examining 362 deals to see if anyone had received any illegal payments.

  Announcing his findings on Friday, he said there was no evidence of irregular payments to any club officials or players but listed 17 transfers that may have broken Premier League or Football Association rules.

  Stevens cited four deals related to Newcastle signings (Emre Belozoglu, Jean Alain Boumsong, Amady Faye, Albert Luque), four to Bolton (Ali Al-Habsi, Tal Ben Haim, Blessing Kaku, Julio Correia), three to Chelsea (Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Michael Essien), three to Portsmouth (Collins Mbesuma, Benjani Mwaruwari, Aliou Cisse) and two to Middlesbrough (Aiyegbeni Yakubu and Fabio Rochemback).

  "If further information is obtained by the relevant authorities the precise position may alter," Stevens said. "We would urge those individuals named [in the report] to now fully cooperate in order to assist with resolving all matters."

  Stevens' report was critical of Israel-based soccer agent Pini Zahavi, who was involved in the moves involving Rochemback, Cech and Drogba.

  "Pinhas Zahavi has failed to cooperate fully with the inquiry," the report said. "There was an initial failure to disclose his involvement in a number of transfers but, more seriously, he has failed to provide the inquiry with complete bank statements due to the confidential nature of them. The inquiry recommends that FIFA are asked to launch their own inquiry into the conduct of Mr Zahavi based on the evidence obtained."

  Stevens said he was also concerned about the conduct of agent Craig Allardyce in a number of transactions at Bolton Wanderers, where his father, Sam Allardyce, was then the manager.

  "The inquiry remains concerned at the conflict of interest that it believes existed between Craig Allardyce, his father Sam Allardyce and the club itself," the report said.

  The report said there were unanswered questions about the transfers of Michael Essien to Chelsea and Albert Luque to Newcastle. The questions related chiefly to the interaction between different agents who were involved in the deals for the buying and selling clubs.

  "Again, the inquiry recommends that the FA and FIFA continue to investigate these matters in the light of the substantial information already obtained," it said.
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