Football transfers will be investigated in U.K., Chelsea mentioned

The so called "bungs" or illegal payments for football transfers will be investigated by the police in the United Kingdom.

Football transfers will be investigated in the U.K., Chelsea mentioned According to the report commissioned by the Premier League almost year and a half ago, it points to allegations that football players, agents and managers had received corrupt payments for their involvement in multimillion-pound transfer deals. Payments for 17 transfers will be looked into more depth.

Among the names mentioned in the report are Didier Drogba and Petr Cech, both playing for Chelsea, the highest spending club in the British Premier League. In his final report, Lord Stevens, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has mentioned the names of football clubs such as Newcastle, Bolton, Middlesbrough and Portsmouth, which will face further investigation. The report will be passed to the Serious Fraud Office and City of London Police.

The Premier League issued the following statement to clubs: "With regards to the future, the Premier League and the FA have agreed to carry out a random audit of selected transfers from each window in order to further ensure compliance. The Premier League will be asking Quest to assist them in this and it may transpire that this becomes a joint initiative subject to agreement with the FA."

Random audits of selected transfers will be conducted in the future as a proactive measurement to curb bungs.

Published on 06/16/2007