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A criminal investigation has been launched following The Daily Telegraph’s revelations about greed and corruption at the heart of English football.
Detectives from the City of London Police Economic Crime Directorate announced that they have begun a probe into a suspected bribery offence, after concluding their review of material gathered by this newspaper.
It is likely that any criminal inquiry will focus on Tommy Wright, Barnsley Football Club’s assistant manager who was sacked after being filmed holding a series of meetings with undercover reporters posing as representatives of the fictitious Far East company.
At a meeting in August, Mr Wright accepted a £5,000 cash bribe. In return for the money, Mr Wright agreed that he would help persuade Barnsley players to hire the fake Far East firm as their agents, as well as recommending that Barnsley sign other players represented by the consortium.
A spokesman for Mr Wright has previously told The Telegraph: “Any suggested acts contrary to criminal law or those of the FA and Fifa are categorically denied.”
England’s manager Sam Allardyce lost his job last month after he was secretly filmed agreeing to be paid by a fake company to travel to the Far East for speaking engagements.
He was caught on camera negotiating a £400,000 deal to take on an ambassador role at the fictitious company, which would involve travelling to Singapore and Hong Kong. Allardyce also offered advice to undercover reporters, posing as businessmen, on how to “get around” FA rules on player transfers.
The Telegraph did not suggest that Allardyce had broken the law, and he subsequently admitted he had been a “fool” and claimed that he had been “helping out” an old friend. City of London Police wrote to Allardyce informing him that he is no longer part of their investigation.
Allardyce said in a statement on Friday: “I welcome today’s confirmation from City of London Police that I will not be the subject of a police investigation. I was always confident that this would be the case as there was no evidence against me. I now ask that the Football Association deals with this matter as quickly as possible.
“I would like to thank my friends and family who have stood by me during this difficult period. The position of England head coach is the pinnacle of any English manager’s career and it was my dream job.
“While I am sad that my tenure came to an end early, I am nonetheless proud to have been chosen to manage the England football team and hope that today’s confirmation from the police will give me the opportunity to move on”.
A spokesman for City of London Police said on Friday: “Detectives from the City of London Police Economic Crime Directorate have reviewed material gathered by a recent Daily Telegraph investigation into suspected corruption in football. “This review of the material has concluded and the decision has been taken to begin a criminal investigation into a single suspected offence of bribery”.
A Telegraph spokesman said: "We will continue to cooperate with the police during their investigations. In the meantime, it remains our intention to release to the FA the relevant transcripts of our investigation when we are free to do so".