Eriksson summoned to FA over corruption allegations

England manager Sven Goran Eriksson was today summoned to a meeting with the Football Association’s chief executive and the FA’s anti-corruption unit after further newspaper reports that he had alleged there was corruption in the sport.

In secretly-taped conversations with an undercover reporter detailed in the News of the World, Eriksson is quoted speaking of his suspicions about transfer dealings.

He will meet FA chief executive Brian Barwick and the anti-fraud unit tomorrow to talk about the allegations.

The issue was already in the public eye after claims from two managers that they had been offered money during transfer deals.

FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick conceded that recent revelations “had not been good for the game’s image” but said it was important to support Eriksson and the England team in the build up to the World Cup in June.

According to the News of the World, Eriksson made the corruption allegations during discussions with an undercover reporter posing as a rich Arab.

The pair were allegedly discussing the possibility of the Swede running Aston Villa after the World Cup when he is quoted as saying: “If I come there I don’t want anything to do with money, money to transfer, because in England it is always this [sways from side to side].”

Asked if managers always became involved in transfers he said: “Yeah, and of course they put money in their pocket.”

Eriksson and his agent Athole Still, who was with him in Dubai, named three clubs in the discussion, which have not been identified by the newspaper.

Eriksson agreed with the newspaper reporter that one manager described as looking like a “stereotypical dodgy manager” was “the worst” while Still said the boss of another was said to have thrown a “smoke screen” over an attempted bung.

A third, Still was reported as saying, had paid “far too much for certain players because of illegal deals with agents and managers”.

Eriksson, who was at this afternoon’s Premiership clash between Manchester United and Liverpool, spoke earlier with Mr Barwick about the allegations.

But he has also been asked to attend tomorrow’s meeting at the Compliance Unit, which investigates financial matters within the game.

Athole Still today claimed that he and Eriksson were “reacting conversationally to a topical subject of debate initiated by their hosts and already being discussed in football circles and the media”

After meeting Barwick today, Still denied that he or Eriksson had evidence in relation to improper transfer dealings in football.

The FA has also requested details of “all the conversations” which the News of the World says took place with an undercover reporter in Dubai.

FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick said: “Allegations made during the past week have not been good for the game’s image.

“However, The FA fully appreciates the importance of supporting Sven and the England team in the build up to and during the World Cup this summer.

“We realise how important this is to every England supporter and are fully aware of our responsibility to provide Sven and the team with the best chance of achieving success in Germany. Rest assured, we are committed to doing this.

“I’d like to call on everyone connected with the game to get behind Sven and the team over the next five months as we countdown to what we all believe is one of our best opportunities in a World Cup Finals for many years.”