Agents' finances under microscope
Agents may find themselves forced to reveal details of their bank accounts by the Premier League’s inquiry into allegations of corruption in football.
Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens, who is leading the inquiry, said his team may use Football Association rules to force agents to open their accounts for inspection after only 65 out of 150 co-operated with the investigation.
Lord Stevens looked into all 362 transfers that took place in the Premier League between January 1, 2004, and January 31, 2006, and announced yesterday that 39 transfers, involving eight clubs, will be investigated further over the next two months.
Roughly half of those involve foreign transfers, and half are domestic transfers.
The FA confirmed it has the right to request information from licensed agents’ bank accounts under their “powers of inquiry” and those who failed to do so risk a misconduct charge.
An FA spokesman said: “We have co-operated fully with the Stevens inquiry so far and will continue to do so. If we are asked to try to obtain information from agents under our powers of inquiry we will, of course, do so.”
