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No axe to grind, just passing on what I read (source: The Times):
Agent claimed to give Sir Alex Ferguson a Rolex for match fixing, court told
A corrupt football agent boasted of giving Sir Alex Ferguson a gold Rolex watch as a reward for fixing the result of a Manchester United Champions League match, a court was told today.
Giuseppe Pagliara was allegedly recorded by undercover newspaper journalists describing his corrupt links to managers, club owners and players.
Brian O’Neill, QC, for the prosecution, told Southwark crown court that the “most high-profile casualty” of the newspaper investigation into alleged corruption in football was Sam Allardyce, who resigned as England manager in 2016.
Mr Pagliara and his fellow agent Dax Price revealed their willingness to be involved in corruption in the player transfer market during their first meeting with an undercover reporter from The Daily Telegraph in May 2016, the court heard.
“In a series of further meetings, calls, emails and texts they proposed schemes to become players’ agents, buy them and place them in English clubs, maintain ownership of the player, and then profit from his onward sale, as well as other schemes, all to be facilitated by bribery,” Mr O’Neill said.
It is claimed that they boasted of allegedly corrupt links to veteran managers including Steve McClaren, a former England manager; Harry Redknapp, previously at Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers; Neil Warnock of Cardiff City; and Antonio Conte, then at Chelsea and now head coach of Inter Milan.
The agents introduced the undercover reporters to Tommy Wright, 52, a former Leeds and Middlesbrough player who was then assistant manager of the Championship club Barnsley.
During a series of meetings with the men the undercover reporter handed over an envelope containing £5,000 cash, the court was told.
Mr O’Neill said that recordings of meetings showed Mr Pagliara and Mr Price “suggesting that various prominent figures in English football are corrupt”.
“It is no part of the prosecution’s case to malign those individuals: they were not present when these things were being said about them and were in no position, therefore, to rebut those allegations,” he said. “It is evidence of [Pagliara’s] knowledge or belief of corruption within football in this country and elsewhere, and, his willingness not just to condone such practices but also to embrace and exploit them.”
The Daily Telegraph began investigating alleged corruption in football after receiving information about agents bribing managers, the court was told. An undercover journalist met Mr Pagliara and Mr Price on the day that one of their clients, the manager John Sheridan, was due to be interviewed by Massimo Cellino, then Leeds United owner, the court heard.
Mr Pagliara, known as Pino, referred to his reputation for giving “bungs” and said that he “would corrupt everyone”, the court was told.
The agent allegedly said they could “guarantee” that some foreign players would be fast-tracked into their national teams so they would be eligible to play for English clubs.
At a second meeting Mr Price claimed he was putting a manager into the League One club Port Vale, which would mean that he could filter players into the club, the court was told. “It’s almost like corruption is just staring you in the face,” he is alleged to have said.
He said that managers who would need “looking after” included Harry Redknapp and Neil Warnock, then at Rotherham United, but added that “not everyone is crooked”, the court was told.
At a meeting at the San Carlo restaurant in Manchester in June 2016 Mr Pagliara allegedly described how payments would be disguised as a “consultancy agreement”.
The court was told that he referred to Conte winking at him when saying he wanted to sign one of his players, asking “is there a little coffee for me Pino?”. Conte had just been made Chelsea manager.
Mr Pagliara said that Jorge Mendes, a Portuguese football agent, made most of his money by owning a share of the players he represented, adding that “in football everything is done under the table”.
Mr O’Neill said: “Towards the end of the meeting Pagliara launched into a diatribe about Sir Alex Ferguson, the former manager of Manchester United, accusing him of having conspired with Pagliara to fix the result of a match against Juventus, with whom Pagliara was associated at the time in the Champions League, for which Pagliara thanked him with ‘a gold, thirty-grand Rolex watch’.
“Pagliara went on to accuse Sir Alex Ferguson of having taken money as part of transfer deals, saying that he would only work ‘with agents that used to share money with’ him. He claimed that he had paid Ferguson before.”
Mr Pagliara then claimed he had “opened so many Swiss bank accounts for managers that you wouldn’t believe”, the court was told.
In July 2016 Mr Pagliara and Mr Price were said to have introduced the undercover reporters to Steve McLaren over lunch at the St Pancras hotel in central London. This was followed by tea with Nwankwo Kanu, a former Arsenal player, at the Mandarin Oriental hotel and dinner with Mr Redknapp at Crockfords, a casino in Mayfair, the court was told.
“Their purpose was probably to impress [the undercover journalists] with their contacts and to secure each of the three individuals’ interest in any future role in the anticipated enterprise,” Mr O’Neill said.
Mr Pagliara told the reporter: “99 per cent of the industry is made up of people that, if they weren’t in football, would be selling second hand cars.”
He said Mr McLaren would be “good for us” because they could get players into clubs where he was manager and also be able to sign the clubs’ academy players, because “we are going to pay him money”, the court was told.
Mr McLaren had been sacked as manager of FC Twente in Holland for “taking bungs” as he had done it with “the wrong agent”, Mr Pagliara allegedly told the undercover reporter.
The agent allegedly said he had told Mr McLaren: “Steve, you need to know who to take a bung from”
When asked if Mr McLaren might be a liability, Mr Pagliara replied: “You don’t come and steal in the house of thieves . . . and we are the thieves…so you don’t come and steal from us,” the court was told.
The agent said they expected that Mr Redknapp would become a director of football with ultimate say over which players to buy and which to sell “because that’s where the smart money is”, the court was told.
During the dinner in July 2016 Mr Redknapp had signalled his interest in owning part of a player, saying: “I would put a few quid in and take a chance with you”, the court was told
After Mr Redknapp left Mr Pagliara was allegedly furious with the suggestion, saying: “I am a f***ing thief and you don’t steal from me. It was so obvious what he is looking for is that one last hit.”
Later the agent allegedly said: “Managers are all interested by the same thing: making sure they don’t get a bad player and making sure they are looked after in the deal. And they know that they’re gonna get looked after in the deal if I’m in the deal”
Mr Pagliara said it had taken him “20 years to get into each manager’s wallet . . . 20 years to share pound notes with managers.” He said that managers would expect £50,000 or £100,000 for each deal.
At a meeting at the Midland Hotel in Manchester in July 2016 he asked the undercover reporter if he would authorise a £300,000 payment to Tony Pulis, then manager of West Bromwich Albion. The payment meant that he and Mr Price would act as the manager’s agent and in return Mr Pulis would take their players, the court heard.
He added later that the undercover reporters could “rely upon my dishonesty that everybody that works with me is dishonest”.
Mr Wright revealed commercial information about Barnsley FC’s players, encouraged players to appoint Mr Price and Mr Pagliara as their agents and agreed to facilitate the placement of players at the club, the court was told.
The agents claimed to have been involved in the transfer of Angus MacDonald from Torquay to Barnsley and plans for Jonson Clarke-Harris to move from Rotherham to Barnsley. Barnsley’s owner Patrick Cryne was not interested breaching the ban on third party ownership of players so that part of the plan failed, the court was told.
Giuseppe Pagliara, 64, of Bury, Greater Manchester, and Dax Price, 47, of Sittingbourne, Kent, deny two counts of paying and facilitating a bribe. Mr Wright, 53, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, denies two counts of accepting a bribe between April and September 2016.
The trial continues.
Agent claimed to give Sir Alex Ferguson a Rolex for match fixing, court told
A corrupt football agent boasted of giving Sir Alex Ferguson a gold Rolex watch as a reward for fixing the result of a Manchester United Champions League match, a court was told today.
Giuseppe Pagliara was allegedly recorded by undercover newspaper journalists describing his corrupt links to managers, club owners and players.
Brian O’Neill, QC, for the prosecution, told Southwark crown court that the “most high-profile casualty” of the newspaper investigation into alleged corruption in football was Sam Allardyce, who resigned as England manager in 2016.
Mr Pagliara and his fellow agent Dax Price revealed their willingness to be involved in corruption in the player transfer market during their first meeting with an undercover reporter from The Daily Telegraph in May 2016, the court heard.
“In a series of further meetings, calls, emails and texts they proposed schemes to become players’ agents, buy them and place them in English clubs, maintain ownership of the player, and then profit from his onward sale, as well as other schemes, all to be facilitated by bribery,” Mr O’Neill said.
It is claimed that they boasted of allegedly corrupt links to veteran managers including Steve McClaren, a former England manager; Harry Redknapp, previously at Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers; Neil Warnock of Cardiff City; and Antonio Conte, then at Chelsea and now head coach of Inter Milan.
The agents introduced the undercover reporters to Tommy Wright, 52, a former Leeds and Middlesbrough player who was then assistant manager of the Championship club Barnsley.
During a series of meetings with the men the undercover reporter handed over an envelope containing £5,000 cash, the court was told.
Mr O’Neill said that recordings of meetings showed Mr Pagliara and Mr Price “suggesting that various prominent figures in English football are corrupt”.
“It is no part of the prosecution’s case to malign those individuals: they were not present when these things were being said about them and were in no position, therefore, to rebut those allegations,” he said. “It is evidence of [Pagliara’s] knowledge or belief of corruption within football in this country and elsewhere, and, his willingness not just to condone such practices but also to embrace and exploit them.”
The Daily Telegraph began investigating alleged corruption in football after receiving information about agents bribing managers, the court was told. An undercover journalist met Mr Pagliara and Mr Price on the day that one of their clients, the manager John Sheridan, was due to be interviewed by Massimo Cellino, then Leeds United owner, the court heard.
Mr Pagliara, known as Pino, referred to his reputation for giving “bungs” and said that he “would corrupt everyone”, the court was told.
The agent allegedly said they could “guarantee” that some foreign players would be fast-tracked into their national teams so they would be eligible to play for English clubs.
At a second meeting Mr Price claimed he was putting a manager into the League One club Port Vale, which would mean that he could filter players into the club, the court was told. “It’s almost like corruption is just staring you in the face,” he is alleged to have said.
He said that managers who would need “looking after” included Harry Redknapp and Neil Warnock, then at Rotherham United, but added that “not everyone is crooked”, the court was told.
At a meeting at the San Carlo restaurant in Manchester in June 2016 Mr Pagliara allegedly described how payments would be disguised as a “consultancy agreement”.
The court was told that he referred to Conte winking at him when saying he wanted to sign one of his players, asking “is there a little coffee for me Pino?”. Conte had just been made Chelsea manager.
Mr Pagliara said that Jorge Mendes, a Portuguese football agent, made most of his money by owning a share of the players he represented, adding that “in football everything is done under the table”.
Mr O’Neill said: “Towards the end of the meeting Pagliara launched into a diatribe about Sir Alex Ferguson, the former manager of Manchester United, accusing him of having conspired with Pagliara to fix the result of a match against Juventus, with whom Pagliara was associated at the time in the Champions League, for which Pagliara thanked him with ‘a gold, thirty-grand Rolex watch’.
“Pagliara went on to accuse Sir Alex Ferguson of having taken money as part of transfer deals, saying that he would only work ‘with agents that used to share money with’ him. He claimed that he had paid Ferguson before.”
Mr Pagliara then claimed he had “opened so many Swiss bank accounts for managers that you wouldn’t believe”, the court was told.
In July 2016 Mr Pagliara and Mr Price were said to have introduced the undercover reporters to Steve McLaren over lunch at the St Pancras hotel in central London. This was followed by tea with Nwankwo Kanu, a former Arsenal player, at the Mandarin Oriental hotel and dinner with Mr Redknapp at Crockfords, a casino in Mayfair, the court was told.
“Their purpose was probably to impress [the undercover journalists] with their contacts and to secure each of the three individuals’ interest in any future role in the anticipated enterprise,” Mr O’Neill said.
Mr Pagliara told the reporter: “99 per cent of the industry is made up of people that, if they weren’t in football, would be selling second hand cars.”
He said Mr McLaren would be “good for us” because they could get players into clubs where he was manager and also be able to sign the clubs’ academy players, because “we are going to pay him money”, the court was told.
Mr McLaren had been sacked as manager of FC Twente in Holland for “taking bungs” as he had done it with “the wrong agent”, Mr Pagliara allegedly told the undercover reporter.
The agent allegedly said he had told Mr McLaren: “Steve, you need to know who to take a bung from”
When asked if Mr McLaren might be a liability, Mr Pagliara replied: “You don’t come and steal in the house of thieves . . . and we are the thieves…so you don’t come and steal from us,” the court was told.
The agent said they expected that Mr Redknapp would become a director of football with ultimate say over which players to buy and which to sell “because that’s where the smart money is”, the court was told.
During the dinner in July 2016 Mr Redknapp had signalled his interest in owning part of a player, saying: “I would put a few quid in and take a chance with you”, the court was told
After Mr Redknapp left Mr Pagliara was allegedly furious with the suggestion, saying: “I am a f***ing thief and you don’t steal from me. It was so obvious what he is looking for is that one last hit.”
Later the agent allegedly said: “Managers are all interested by the same thing: making sure they don’t get a bad player and making sure they are looked after in the deal. And they know that they’re gonna get looked after in the deal if I’m in the deal”
Mr Pagliara said it had taken him “20 years to get into each manager’s wallet . . . 20 years to share pound notes with managers.” He said that managers would expect £50,000 or £100,000 for each deal.
At a meeting at the Midland Hotel in Manchester in July 2016 he asked the undercover reporter if he would authorise a £300,000 payment to Tony Pulis, then manager of West Bromwich Albion. The payment meant that he and Mr Price would act as the manager’s agent and in return Mr Pulis would take their players, the court heard.
He added later that the undercover reporters could “rely upon my dishonesty that everybody that works with me is dishonest”.
Mr Wright revealed commercial information about Barnsley FC’s players, encouraged players to appoint Mr Price and Mr Pagliara as their agents and agreed to facilitate the placement of players at the club, the court was told.
The agents claimed to have been involved in the transfer of Angus MacDonald from Torquay to Barnsley and plans for Jonson Clarke-Harris to move from Rotherham to Barnsley. Barnsley’s owner Patrick Cryne was not interested breaching the ban on third party ownership of players so that part of the plan failed, the court was told.
Giuseppe Pagliara, 64, of Bury, Greater Manchester, and Dax Price, 47, of Sittingbourne, Kent, deny two counts of paying and facilitating a bribe. Mr Wright, 53, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, denies two counts of accepting a bribe between April and September 2016.
The trial continues.
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