Luton boss Mike Newell will meet the Football Association (FA) next week to discuss his claims that transfer bungs remain rife in football.
“We have contacted Mike this morning and will meet with himearly next week. If he provides us with evidence we will investigate fully,” FA chief executive Brian Barwick said.
“These are very serious claims that Mike Newell has made,” Barwick told the FA website.
Newell told BBC Radio Five Live: “I will do that, absolutely no problem. I have no fear.”
“The FA must play a much bigger role than they are doing – agents are the scourge of the game.”
And when asked if he had been offered money to facilitate transfer deals, Newell replied: “Of course I have. I wouldn’t even entertain the idea – never.
“If I was open to it, it would be a regular occurrence. All I would have to say is, ‘What is in it for me?’.”
In 1995, George Graham was sacked as Arsenal manager and banned from football for a year after admitting accepting illegal payments.
Newell added: “If George Graham is the only one guilty of taking a bung in the last 10 years, I would be absolutely amazed.
“If the governing bodies don’t eradicate some of the things that are happening, it will kill the game.
“Hopefully the Football League and the Premier League will come to their senses and bring in stricter laws.”
I’ve seen the money agents make at Championship level and I can only imagine what they make at the top level.
“So many players have come and gone who have been absolutely no good to the game or the clubs who bought them.
“But the agents will have made money once again and the game in this country will have suffered.
“Millions of pounds have gone out of the game that will not be seen again.”
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