Newell launches scathing attack on Stevens report

14 April 2012

Mike Newell has urged Lord Stevens to delve deeper into football's murky past to reveal the true extent of corruption in the game and prevent the culprits from slipping through the net.

Stevens has been widely criticised for presiding over a whitewash after his Quest team failed to identify a single guilty party at the end of a nine-month probe costing £800,000. The former Metropolitan Police chief signed off on 345 of the 362 transfers under investigation, but reserved judgement on the rest after eight agents refused to co-operate.

As Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore yesterday called for those agents to be suspended, the man whose bung allegations sparked the whole investigation spoke out in support of more aggressive and far-reaching measures.

Newell is convinced offenders will be weeded out from the remaining 17 deals, but insisted the investigation has not gone far enough by only scrutinising transfers that have taken place in the Premier League in the last two years.

The Luton manager said: "It's a surprise to me that they are not investigating more transfers. With the money that has gone out of the game in the last five or 10 years, £800,000 is an absolute pittance.

"They keep rolling these agents out who say the game is clean and only five per cent of activity is being questioned, but they've only gone into the last two years in the Premier League.

"Why didn't they go back five or 10 years and into the Football League? People with nothing to hide will fear nothing.

"In those two years, clubs are more professional so it's not as widespread. But a lot of these agents have made their millions in the last five to 10 years.

"There will be a lot of people breathing a sigh of relief on their yachts and in their villas - and I'm not just talking about agents now."

Newell was the original whistleblower when he alleged in January he had been offered a bung by an agent, later identifying him as Charles Collymore on a BBC Panorama programme.

And despite the general feeling of anti-climax in the wake of Stevens's announcement, he is optimistic the inquiry will eventually produce results. Newell added: 'There is an air of frustration from people over the findings, but I don't share that frustration because I'm sure something will come of it.

"I'd be very surprised if people aren't brought to book from the 17 or so transfers they're still investigating. Once you get one or two, you can really open a can of worms.

"The game's not clean, and Lord Stevens said that yesterday - he was asked the question directly.

"When put on the spot and asked what his gut feeling was, he felt that there was corruption and the game was not clean. That's the only question that anybody needs to take any notice of the answer.

"We need to clean the game up and make it transparent, but shouldn't that have happened when the Premier League started? Shouldn't that have happened 20 years ago?

"It's probably five or 10 years too late for a lot of clubs, but it's certainly not too late for the agents and anybody who has benefited in that time.

"The fact that some agents didn't co-operate doesn't surprise me at all."

The BBC documentary accused Sam Allardyce of wrongdoing, but the Bolton boss yesterday said he would fully examine the Stevens report before making any comment.

Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp, who made a fleeting appearance on the programme, insisted: "There is nothing to find. Nothing in the report surprised me. What is there to find?"

As the Association of Football Agents urged the eight men who have yet to co-operate to open their books for the good of their profession, Scudamore called for them to be suspended.

The Premier League chief said: "Clearly I want to put as much pressure on anybody involved in this inquiry to bring forward evidence.

"I don't know precisely what power the FA have over these agents. Clearly it will be a matter for them.

"We don't govern agents, which is the reason why Lord Stevens's recommendations include formally asking the FA to join us in the next phase of the investigation. That's because the agents do have to answer to the FA."

The FA issued a cautious response last night, saying: "We haven't yet been given details of the 17 outstanding transfers and the eight agents involved. Once we do, we will look at what the most appropriate course of action is, in conjunction with the Premier League and Quest."

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