A bungled mess
Implictaed Sam Allardyce vigorously denies any wrongdoing
Also In The News
|
Manchester United went some way to avenging being dumped out of last year's competition at the same stadium with a 1-0 win at Benfica's Stadium of Light. |  |
Wednesday, 27, Sep 2006 08:49
One subject has dominated football headlines this past week, and it hasn't been the return to management of John Gregory. Undercover: Football's Dirty Secrets, the BBC's Panorama programme investigating transfer irregularities in the game, has received more media attention and reaction than Rooney's right foot and the World Cup Wags combined managed this summer.
While conscious of the sensitive nature of the subject due to the countless legal writs being lodged in the programme's aftermath, there is one subversive question literally begging to be asked and that is, should we really care about the allegations? The Beeb will have us believe we should - its publicity machine made it out to be the most revelatory programme in history. But is it really that groundbreaking or indeed authoritative?
Henry Winter of the Daily Telegraph, in his article Bungs Aside, Impoverished Technique is the Real Crime, argued that the current state of the game and the lack of young talent coming through the youth ranks is of far more importance than whether a middleman takes an illegal cut of a player's transfer fee or whether a starlet is auctioned to the highest bidder behind his own club's back. He is right, but he also overvalues the comparison. Few facets of the modern game are more critical than safeguarding the future of it.
Transfer dealings which encroach on regulations, be it via tapping-up, sweeteners or otherwise, are nothing new. They have happened throughout the history of football and to such an unwritten extent they are almost an accepted, comparatively harmless part of the game. This isn't condoning the irregularities. Incidents such as that picked up by Panorama which saw agent Peter Harrison appear to offer Middlesbrough youngster Nathan Porritt to Chelsea and Liverpool without Boro's knowledge should be clamped down upon. Indeed, any agents found guilty of any irregularities should have their licenses indefinitely revoked. But there are areas of football in more dire need of attention than transfer bungs and so forth: the next generation of players, as Winter stresses, but also the conduct of players on the pitch, the standard of refereeing, use of technology, maintaining crowd attendance and atmosphere and continuing to tackle racism and hooliganism.
Too much is arguably being made of Panorama's investigation at this stage. Fundamentally, all that was presented was secretly-filmed video and audio clips featuring a few figures from the game, of disparate importance, discussing with agents possible future transfers and additional, unexplained fees. Agents are arguably seen reinforcing their illicit stereotype and comments from unsubstantiated whistleblowers take up remaining film time. Overall, not a devastatingly great deal of information is offered. Indeed, claims have been made the programmers struggled to fill the show's short time capacity.
It is also important to bear in mind that the investigation was carried out by journalists. Not by the Football Association, not by the Premier League and not by Fifa or Uefa. It is also completely separate to the Lord Stevens report, which is due to be published on October 2nd and will present a thorough audit of recent transfer deals and money movements. Partly because of this direct detachment from footballing authorities, Panorama's investigation has been condemned by clubs, managers and footballing bodies for being inflammatory, and for portraying comments in a "completely misleading manner", according to Kevin Bond, who has been sacked as assistant manager at Newcastle following the programme. Further investigations are ongoing but at this time, a "lack of substance", as the League Managers' Association states, is a common, overriding reaction and therefore its relevance and authority should be viewed cautiously and at arms' length. Innocent until proven guilty should be the formative retort.
Ben Arnold