Football Association set to be asked to launch independent inquiry into allegations of corruption
Detectives have already spoken to the FA and journalists involved in the undercover sting
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Your support makes all the difference.The Football Association chairman Greg Clarke will face the Commons Culture, Media and Sport select committee later today where he will be asked to launch an independent inquiry into allegations of corruption within the game.
In the wake of the Daily Telegraph's investigation into bribery and wrongdoing in football, Clarke will also be grilled by MPs on the level of due diligence carried out by the FA before it appointed former head coach Sam Allardyce.
Allardyce's contract was terminated by mutual consent last month after he was secretly filmed appearing to advise undercover reporters on how to sidestep FA transfer regulations while negotiating a fee of £400,000 to represent an overseas firm.
City of London Police launched an investigation into bribery and the role of money in football following the Telegraph's revelations, which included how eight current and recent Premier League managers have been accused of taking bungs.
Detectives have already spoken to the FA and journalists involved in the undercover sting.
"One of the key things we will want to know is will the FA open a proper investigation into the issues which have been raised, once the police have completed their job?" acting Culture, Media and Sport committee chairman Damian Collins MP told the Daily Telegraph.
"I think that there should be a proper process where a senior figure, independent of football, is appointed to investigate these matters and that they should be able to produce a report which is published in full.
"It should not just be something that is commissioned by football for football. It should be a proper independent study."
Allardyce was the subject of a BBC Panorama documentary in 2006 which included allegations against the then Bolton manager, who has always insisted he has never taken or sought a bung.
"There is now the question of what sort of due diligence did the FA do before they gave Sam Allardyce the job," Collins added.
"There have been a number of allegations made in the last decade about Allardyce. What did they do to satisfy themselves that his appointment wouldn't cause them any future embarrassment?"
While announcing its own inquiry into the matter, the committee warned of "major failings in the current system of football governance in the UK" and intends to ask Clarke if the FA "wants more power" to investigate and punish malpractice in football.
PA.
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