Agents 'to blame for bungs'

Former Tottenham chairman Alan Sugar believes ‘bungs’ are “being orchestrated by agents.”

However he is adamant the matter will be swept uder the carpet following allegations by Luton manager Mike Newell that he was offered inducements.

Sugar told Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek programme: “I believe it (bungs) are a regular thing and orchestrated by the agents.

“The agents sometimes receive awesome amounts of money which bear no resemblance to the so-called work they do.

“If you compare it to real estate, where you pay an agent 1% of the sales price, you hear of a player going for £15m and the agent getting £1m.

“Why is there a need for an agent, anyway?”

Sugar added: “I would have a confidence factor of eight on the scale of 10 that this is going nowhere.

“There might be a few legal actions but at the end of the day no-one is going to jail. It is as simple as that.”

The Association of Football Agents would welcome a full inquiry.

Leading agent Jerome Anderson said: “We would like people to come up and name names and go through their respective bodies of complaint.

“There are procedures. Let’s try and wash it out.”