QPR boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is one of three people named in The Daily Telegraph’s latest investigations into corruption in football.
The former Chelsea striker, who denies any wrongdoing, is caught on camera negotiating a £55,000 fee to act for a company in the Far East, which proposed the idea of selling players to QPR.
When discussing the fee he would receive, Hasselbaink told the undercover reporter who had initially offered £35,000 – £40,000: ‘I think you have to do better than that.
‘Look, just try to make me happy. Cos you come up with a nice figure, you know. The 35 is… you know?’
Barnsley’s assistant manager Tommy Wright has been suspended by the club after he was secretly filmed by The Daily Telegraph accepting a £5,000 bribe.
Wright was paid after he reached an agreement with a fake company to help them sign players from Barnsley as representatives.
He also also allegedly agreed to encourage the Championship club to sign players who are represented by the same fictitious firm.
Leeds United’s owner Massimo Cellino offered a fake company a 20% share in his club in return for 20% of his players’ sell-on fees.
Third-party ownership of players is banned by the Football Association and FIFA, but Cellino was caught on camera explaining how potential investors could work around the current rules.
‘Technically, it’s perfect, for me it’s beautiful,” he told an undercover reporter.
‘For me it’s the best thing. But you know that by the rules here, and everywhere now, it’s become every day more difficult.
‘I cannot allow myself to make a mistake in England. I don’t want to be the one that breach the rules.’
The Italian also described football as a ‘f***ing dirty, dirty business’.
COMMENTS