Charges possible after Stevens investigation cites 17 transfers

Five Premiership clubs, three managers and 15 agents, involved in 17 transfers still to be investigated, were named yesterday in Lord Stevens' final report into his 15-month, £1.3m "bung" inquiry into allegations of illicit payments relating to Premiership transfers.

The report stresses that all Premiership clubs fully cooperated with Stevens' investigation, and no evidence of irregular payments has been found to date. But two of the managers, Sam Allardyce and Graeme Souness, are cited for potential conflict of interest and lack of disclosure respectively. The third manager, Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp, warrants further investigation over the gift of a racehorse from an agent.

Stevens also calls for the game's most powerful agent, Pini Zahavi, to be investigated by Fifa, football's world governing body.

Many of those mentioned immediately responded with trenchant denials of wrongdoing, and criticism of Stevens. But the 17 deals yet to be "signed off" will now be probed further by the Football Association and Fifa. Misconduct charges are a possibility, while the full gamut of punishments available to the football authorities, up to and including banishment from the game, could be used if charges are brought and proved.

Of the 17 transfers (see panel on opposite page for details), three relate to Chelsea (Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Michael Essien), four relate to Newcastle United (Emre Belozoglu, Jean Alain Boumsong, Amady Faye, Albert Luque), four to Bolton Wanderers (Ali Al-Habsi, Tal Ben Haim, Blessing Kaku, Julio Correia), three to Portsmouth (Collins Mbesuma, Benjani Mwaruwari, Aliou Cissé) and two to Middlesbrough (Aiyegbeni Yakubu and Fabio Rochemback).

One transfer has not been disclosed because, Stevens said, "the inquiry has been asked by another regulatory authority not to specify in order that its investigations should not be prejudiced by revealing the identity ... the inquiry, of course, is compelled to respect this request". It is thought the police are investigating this deal.

The main focus of the report is agents, and alleged non-cooperation by a raft of middlemen, notably Zahavi, the Israeli "uberagent" who is linked to five of the 17 deals. The inquiry found Zahavi "has failed to cooperate fully" with Stevens, and has recommended that Fifa "launch their own inquiry into the conduct of Mr Zahavi based on the evidence obtained".

Zahavi's lawyer, Ehud Shochatovitch, said: "Mr Zahavi fully cooperated with the inquiry... He gave the investigation an unprecedented offer to waive his bank accounts' secrecy concerning the relevant football transactions... Quest [Lord Stevens' team] wanted Mr Zahavi to furnish their investigators with access to bank accounts of Mr Zahavi and his companies that have nothing to do with football transactions and with English football, in particular.

"In light of the above, there is no doubt that Quest's findings are unfounded and arbitrary and that Quest misused its powers, exceeded its authority and overstepped the scope of the inquiry. If Fifa wish to investigate further, he will cooperate fully with them too because he has nothing to hide."

Stevens' report names three managers. One is Allardyce. "The inquiry remains concerned at the conflict of interest that it believes existed between Craig Allardyce [then a licensed agent], his father Sam Allardyce [the then manager at Bolton] and the club itself," the report said.

Craig Allardyce said that he would provide "further documentation" to aid Stevens' inquiry.

A second manager mentioned is Souness, formerly of Newcastle. The report said: "There remain inconsistencies in evidence provided by Graeme Souness and Kenneth Shepherd [the son of Newcastle's chairman, Freddy], apparently acting in an undefined role but not as a club official, as to their respective roles in transfer negotiations."

Souness responded: "I cannot understand why my name features in this report. I volunteered full information to Quest as a witness and I have heard nothing further from them." A Newcastle statement said: "The club firmly supports the inquiry and calls on those agents referred to in the report to assist the inquiry in resolving their outstanding queries as soon as possible."

The report also recommended inquiries should be continued into the registering of a racehorse by an agent, Willie McKay, in Redknapp's name. "Harry Redknapp has confirmed that this could well have happened, though it was a very unsuccessful horse that resulted in no material gain or reward for him," the report said.

Stevens said the inquiry "is still awaiting clarification [of information] from McKay" relating to the moves of Boumsong and Faye to Newcastle.

With reference to the transfers of Mwaruwari and Cissé to Portsmouth, the report added: "Agent Willie McKay acted for the selling club, Auxerre, in the transfer of Benjani and for Portsmouth in the transfer of Cissé and, for the same reason as above [still awaiting clarification], the inquiry is not prepared to clear these transfers at this stage. In relation to Benjani's transfer, the inquiry also has identified concerns regarding the role of [agent] Teni Yerima and [third party] Ralph N'Komo."

A Portsmouth statement said: "Although there are transfers involving Portsmouth FC, the continuing investigations are into the agents, not the club.

"The club paid no agent's fee to Pini Zahavi for the transfer of Collins Mbesuma and no agent's fee to Willie McKay for the transfer of Benjani. Indeed, no fee was paid to any agent for this deal.

"The transfer of Aliou Cissé was the most straightforward of deals and involved the normal agent's fee to Mr McKay. We have always acted in accordance with Premier League rules and have cooperated fully with the investigation."

Redknapp, an owner of several thoroughbred horses, said McKay's registering of a horse in his name was "purely a PR exercise". He added: "Trainer Dandy Nicholls wanted people from the world of football involved to gain publicity for his yard but I have never even seen the horse run and have never gained a penny out of it or contributed to any training fees." Nicholls supported Redknapp's version of events.

Among the agents cited as not fully cooperating, initially at least, was Barry Silkman, who the report alleges failed at one point to disclose his involvement with Zahavi on some of the deals involving Chelsea and Middlesbrough.

Silkman said: "It's an absolute, total lie ... Whoever he is, Lord Stevens, he is a liar. The people who have done this are liars. I cooperated 100 per cent." He added that if claims are made about wrongdoing in the Rochemback deal, "I will discredit them like you cannot believe. They will rue the day they were ever born."

Stevens' spotlight: Quest report queries 17 transfers, five clubs and two managers

Lord Stevens' investigation into illegal payments has raised concerns over issues involving 17 transfers, five clubs, two managers and a number of agents and third parties.

Here are the key points:

OVERALL

Stevens' report states: "There is no evidence of any irregular payments to club officials or players and they are identified here only as a consequence of the outstanding issues the inquiry has with the agents identified."

* BOLTON

Transfers: Ali Al-Habsi, Tal Ben Haim, Blessing Kaku, Julio Correia.

"The Inquiry has unanswered concerns regarding the involvement of Craig Allardyce in a number of transactions at Bolton Wanderers FC and regarding the involvement of [agents and third parties] Peter Harrison, Jamie Hart, David Abou, Mike Morris, Eugenio Botas, and Francis Martin.

"The Inquiry remains concerned at the conflict of interest it believes existed between Craig Allardyce, his father Sam Allardyce (then manager at Bolton) and the club itself."

* NEWCASTLE

Transfers: Emre, Jean Alain Boumsong, Amdy Faye, Albert Luque.

"There remain inconsistencies in evidence provided by Graeme Souness and Kenneth Shepherd (apparently acting in an undefined role but not as a club official) as to their respective roles in transfer negotiations."

Relating to Emre: "The Inquiry has been unable to obtain the co-operation of the agent Ahmet Bulut."

Relating to Boumsong and Faye: "The Inquiry is still awaiting clarification from agent Willie McKay."

In relation to Luque's transfer: "The Inquiry still has unanswered questions relating to possible payments made by agent Francis Martin who Newcastle officials believed was working for the selling club."

* CHELSEA

Transfers: Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Michael Essien.

"Agent Pini Zahavi has failed to co-operate fully with the Inquiry. There was an initial failure to disclose his involvement in a number of transfers but, more seriously, he has failed to provide the Inquiry with complete bank statements due to the confidential nature of them. There has also been a lack of responsiveness by Zahavi. There remain questions relating to his relationship with and payments to Barry Silkman (licensed agent) and Barry Silkman's failure to initially disclose his involvement in all the transactions in which he received fees."

* MIDDLESBROUGH

Transfers: Yakubu and Fabio Rochemback.

Statement relating to Zahavi and Silkman above also relates to the two Middlesbrough transfers.

* PORTSMOUTH

Transfers: Collins Mbesuma, Benjani, Alliou Cissé.

"Agent Willie McKay acted for the selling club, Auxerre, in the transfer of Benjani and for Portsmouth in the transfer of Cissé and, for the same reason as above [still awaiting clarification], the inquiry is not prepared to clear these transfers at this stage. In relation to Benjani's transfer, the Inquiry also has identified concerns regarding the role of [agent] Teni Yerima and [third party] Ralph N'Komo."

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