Sam Allardyce has been sacked as
England manager just 67 days after landing his dream job.
Allardyce held crunch talks at
Wembley with Football Association chiefs after footage emerged of the
61-year-old apparently dishing out controversial tips to get around FA transfer
rules to undercover Daily Telegraph reporters who were posing as businessman
from a Far East Firm.
The former Bolton boss was
accompanied by adviser Mark Curtis for a meeting with FA chairman Greg Clarke
and chief executive Martin Glenn.
It is understood Clarke and Glenn
were extremely disturbed by the allegations.
Allardyce, the highest paid
manager in international football, had defended himself by saying that during
the sting he said that everything needed to be run past The FA.
Gareth Southgate is likely to be
put in temporary charge for the upcoming World Cup qualifying games with Malta
and Slovenia.
FA board members Dan Ashworth and
David Gill had also been consulted, while the rest of the board were before the
decision was announced.
FA bosses told the Mail they
wanted the 'full facts' before making a 'judgement' and are understood to
have organised this morning's meeting to hear his version of events.
The Daily Telegraph confirmed
tonight it will release to the FA the 'relevant transcripts' from its
probe.
A spokesman for the newspaper
said: 'These run to many hundreds of pages so will take some time to collate.
'In line with our investigations
protocol, some material has already been passed to the police.'
Among the allegations which
emerged from the footage, it is claimed:
- § Allardyce used his position as England manager to negotiate a £400,000 deal;
- § He offered advice to 'businessmen' hoping to profit from the Premier League's transfer market on how to 'get around' the FA's 'ridiculous' rules which prevent third parties from 'owning' football players;
- § He agreed to travel to Singapore and Hong Kong as an ambassador and be a 'keynote' speaker;
- § He claimed Enner Valencia had been under a third-party ownership agreement when he signed for West Ham in 2014 - when Allardyce was at the helm;
- § He accused the FA of being 'all about making money'
- § He mocked Roy Hodgson's speech impediment, referring to him as 'Woy' and criticising his public image;
- § He said Gary Neville should 'sit down and shut up' and was a bad influence on Hodgson.
Allardyce, the former Notts County, Bolton, West Ham and Sunderland boss who was named Roy Hodgson's successor after the shambolic Euro 2016 exit to Iceland, allegedly made the comments during two meetings which took place in August and last week.
The video - part of a ten-month
Telegraph investigation into alleged bribery and corruption in English football
–appears to show Allardyce making numerous controversial remarks about subjects
varying from England players to circumventing regulations, and side work to his
employers.
Source: Daily Mail
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