Caborn calls for football clean-up

The sports minister has said more must be done to counter illegal payments in football after the BBC broadcast fresh allegations.

Richard Caborn called on the Panorama programme to hand over its evidence to the Football Association Premier League inquiry into 'bungs' that is already underway.

The review, headed by former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens, is due to unveil its findings on October 2.

"The integrity of sport needs to be upheld, and there are proper rules for managers and agents," Caborn said.

"These allegations damage the integrity of football and need to be looked at properly.

"The programme alleged they had names of 18 managers who had received illegal payments, and I think they should give all their findings over to the Lord Stevens inquiry.

"This reinforces what I have been trying to do to bring in greater regulation into football through the European Football Review."

The FA says it will investigate "any possible breach of the rules" over the allegations made in the programme.

The undercover film showed two agents claiming they paid bungs to Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce in order to facilitate the transfer of players, although both later said on the record that they had exaggerated.

Asked if action should be taken against Allardyce, Caborn insisted that any decision should be made "on the evidence".

"I mean, there was some evidence given - I think that needs to be handed over now and interrogated properly," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Wednesday.

"Many of the people who gave that evidence denied it on the Panorama programme afterwards."

He said the problem could only be tackled on an international scale, which the European football governance review he helped instigate was already beginning to do.

"There are many issues across Europe," he said. "You can only deal with it at a European level and at a global level through Fifa."

"It's my job to bring in the policies and the structures that can actually deal with the cause, and not with the symptoms."

And he added on BBC Radio Five Live that solutions are available.

"Everyone was saying we would not rout out cheats in sport on anti-doping, but we are doing that now systematically...

"What has been discussed is a new licensing [regime] which every club will have to sign up to, and if they break the rules there will be consequences."