Lord Stevens Inquiery Still not complete

~Rebel~

There are still 17 transfers that have yet to be investigated fully, due to the lack of co-operation from 8 agents. Will it ever end?

The Premier League has asked Lord Stevens to undertake further investigations into 17 transfers falling under the mandate of his inquiry into football's finances.

In his report to The Premier League, following a nine-month probe into illegal payments, Stevens concluded that under five per cent of the 362 transfers covering the period from January 1, 2004 to January 31, 2006 required further scrutiny.

Speaking at a press conference at a London hotel, Stevens underlined that the findings did not suggest 'criminal, endemic wrongdoing across the whole of the Premier League'.

However Lord Stevens' Quest team will now continue their work regarding 17 deals, with previous attempts to complete the process hindered by a 'small but significant' number of agents.

The Premier League will also formally ask The Football Association for a joint inquiry as the governing body has the power to instruct agents to disclose the necessary information.

"When the Premier League first initiated this Inquiry into alleged irregular payments we made it clear that we wanted a thorough and exhaustive investigation," Scudamore said in a statement on the Premier league website.

"The Board of the Premier League this morning received Lord Stevens' final report. It is manifest from the processes the Inquiry has followed, laid out before you today, that this investigation has been carried out meticulously, professionally and independently. The Board are of the opinion that Lord Stevens and his team at Quest are to be commended for their work.

"We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the clubs, who have given an unprecedented level of cooperation to the Inquiry. Indeed Lord Stevens has had access, where requested, to all documentation, including bank accounts both on and offshore.

"To that end the Inquiry, as originally instigated under its specific terms of reference, is effectively complete.

"However, as you have heard Lord Stevens has satisfied himself as to the probity of all but 17 transfers out of the 362 that fell under the Inquiry Terms of Reference. This is ostensibly because of the failure of a small but significant number of agents' refusal to cooperate with the Inquiry.

"The Board has decided today to ask Lord Stevens to make further investigations into these 17 transfers, under a new mandate and terms of reference.

"We have also decided to formally ask The FA to make this a joint inquiry as they are vested with the powers to require agents to disclose, as well as providing the direct interface with Fifa, which will be essential to complete any investigation."

Lord Stevens also hit out at the reluctance of the 'eight major agents' - all unnamed - to provide the requested information, stating that such a stance, coupled with a failure to follow accepted procedures, compromised the reputation of the game.

"Agents' failure to respond has resulted in delays to this inquiry," Stevens said in a press conference televised on Sky Sports News.

"We will be providing the Premier League with a number of incidences where mandated processes have not been followed.

"The frequency of these instances show the clubs neither anticipate nor are concerned by the strictures imposed by The FA.

"It is my view this further erodes the reputation of the game and those involved in it.

"Such scant disregard for the rules and regulations of this great game is unacceptable."

Lord Stevens further confirmed that details of some transfers will be handed to the police, whilst the former Metropolitan Police commissioner refused to name any of the clubs or agents involved in the outstanding 17 transfers.

thebaz

i find the whole bung inquiry so boring, nothing in life is perfect as Mike Newell has recently found out for himself , surely there are more urgent matters to be dealt with ? or will it be the Sky news headlines for the next few weeks ? yawn yawn .

sundula

I agree, i would sooner see them spend time and money improving ref's and the standards they bring to the game. He should investigate that

event

?

you dont think bungs and dodgy transfers are important?

sundula, do you think referee's standards have dropped in the last few years?
or is the fact that we now see an incident 10 times before an incident is decided on?

therecklessone

I'm in favour of more honesty in the game FULL STOP.

That covers the whole range, from diving to handball to players shafting their own clubs for more money to agents/managers putting through dishonest transfers to line their own pockets.

They are all symptoms of the current disease in football, it used to be hooliganism that was the problem, now the fans are only an inconveniance to the vultures bleeding more and more money out of the game.

Anything that helps reverse the trend is welcome in my book.

thebaz

Mike Newell is still not happy with the report, he seams to be the Arsene Wenger of the Championship with a view on everything , without the technical astuteness though !

sundula

event wrote:

?

you dont think bungs and dodgy transfers are important?

sundula, do you think referee's standards have dropped in the last few years?
or is the fact that we now see an incident 10 times before an incident is decided on?

Bungs and dodgy deals arent a big a problem as they once were, there all kinds of checks and measures in place now, not at the FA end but at the Tax and Customs and Passport end. This enquiry is about 15 years to late. The man had plenty of time and money, invetigated nearly a 1000 deals and basically came back with nothing. And to be honest i would sooner see the game sorted on the pitch. The Media served up Ashley Cole, Kenyon and Chelsea and all they FA could do was give them poxy fines. As if they cared the are all millionaires. If they were serious they should have made fines in respect of their worth and docked Chelsea 9 points.

Fair point about the TV jury on ref's decisions. But I still think the standard has gone back in particular with linesmen. All they have is go up a down the side lines, watch the off-sides and look to the refs blind side and some of the stuff they miss or dont call is crazy. I have seen some mad off side decisions in the last few seasons and the linesmen get away with murder. And all the cristism is on the the ref. For example the Drogba free kick against NewC in the cup. Why couldnt the linesman signal that kind of stuff to the ref?

MrJoeSoap

thebaz wrote:

Mike Newell is still not happy with the report, he seams to be the Arsene Wenger of the Championship with a view on everything , without the technical astuteness though !

Mike Newell is a quality manager... FACT!