Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
Sports => Football => Topic started by: kentsoulman on May 16, 2007, 02:58:10 PM
-
Exposed: The Chairman who paid agents £150,000 in bungs
16.05.07
Football's bung culture has been laid bare by an astonishing admission from a leading club chairman that he made a series of bogus payments to players' agents.
Former Luton Town chairman Bill Tomlins made the remarkable confession in an interview with FA lawyers investigating the club, whose former manager, Mike Newell, claimed that corruption was rife throughout football.
The payments admitted by Tomlins were: ● To Edwin Stein, representing Marcus Heikkinen, two unauthorised amounts totalling £25,000.
● To Sky Andrew, representing Ahmet Brkovic, three unauthorised payments totalling £37,500.
● To Imageview Agency (Mike Berry), representing Carlos Edwards, four unauthorised payments totalling £44,500.
● To Stellar Sports, representing Kevin Nicholls, one unauthorised payment of £7,500.
● To Treble B Sports (Andy Mills) representing Rowan Vine, one unauthorised payment of £10,000.
● To Direct Sports (Mark Curtis), representing Steve Howard, one unauthorised payment of £16,000
● To Key Sports (Steven Denos) representing Marlon Beresford, one unauthorised payment of £10,000.
-
Mike Berry might be in some hot water
-
What makes the payment unauthorized...did it go to Berry directly rather than Carlos?
What is the exact rule that they broke....bung sound like a bribe but a bribe for what?
-
Mike Berry might be in some hot water
well he does lime with Jack so he safe :devil: :devil:
-
all transfer fees must be declared to the FA. This is a rule brought in to bring transparency to english football.
Basically, agents were paid by clubs to encourage their players to sign. Therefore, the agent got paid by club and player, but the players were not aware of this. Literally, some agents received a brown paper bag full of cash. In one well documented case, an Italian player was signed by an English club and was told that the club would pay the agents fee. The player got a tax bill 18 monthes later for £400,000. He had to pay the tax as a benefit in kind. The agent was paid £1,000,000.
The FA will punish Luton Town. Don't know if they can punish Tomlins, because he has resigned as chairman.
Obviously, a player may wonder if the agent is acting in his best interest if the club is paying the agent an additional secret fee. Maybe the player could have had this extra money. Maybe there was a better deal at another club, but they wouldn't pay the agent a "sweetener".
It would be interesting to hear Carlos's view.
don't forget, Mike Berry was paid by TTFF to attend the world cup.....and his players aren't on the blacklist.
Makes you wonder if they had a private deal with TTFF? Also, wonder if Mike Berry advised them to drop the court case, and if he did, which employer was he working for, the players or TTFF.
You can see why FPATT want to address the issue of agents and maybe provide their own agenty service.
-
Mike Berry might be in some hot water
well he does lime with Jack so he safe :devil: :devil:
Observation of the Year ;D
Bung.....British slang for a bribe, a "deal sweetener" of sorts. The term is used within football corruption, transfer agents paying "bungs" and the managers that accept them.
-
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/article-23396478-details/Exposed%3A+The+Chairman+who+paid+agents+£150%2C000+in+bungs/article.do
On Tuesday night, Berry, who represents Edwards, said: "When I did my transaction to take Carlos to Luton I agreed a £95,000 finder's fee for bringing him to the club.
"There were, at the time, a number of other clubs chasing Carlos, so the way it was agreed I would be paid was £51,000 plus an enhancement.
"I asked Mike Newell about the total fee and he told me I'd have to go to see the chairman Bill Tomlins. The chairman said he wanted to pay me £51,000 from the Luton Town accounts and the balance through Jayten. I was concerned about this and rang my solicitor.
"I asked both Mike Newell and Bill Tomlins about Jayten and was told it was a holding company for Luton Town. I was not worried who paid me, just as long as I got paid.
"Mr Tomlins said he wanted to pay me the £45,000 over two or three years. The transaction went through and when Mike Newell left Luton he came to see me, and when I reminded him he had told me to go to see the chairman about the rest of the money, he said he couldn't remember that.
"In terms of Jayten, the money has been paid, that's my only concern. I filled in the forms required by the football authorities in relation to the fee of £51,000. Bill Tomlins said he wanted to pay the rest as a consultancy fee.
"I wasn't happy with that and I wondered why the fee had been split like that. I spoke to my solicitor about it. I didn't declare this amount to the authorities, but accepted it as a consultancy fee." ::)
-
Just a thought.....
If Mike Berry received £95,000 for the Edwards deal, how much, I woner did he get for the other Trinis??
If we guess he got £50,000 per player that works out at around £300,000 or approx $4millionTT.
If, as in some cases in England, the union acted as the agent, that would be a lot of money going into FPATT to use for community projects, players education programmes, etc.
JUST A THOUGHT.
-
How would it work...would FPATT have agents working for them....or would the full time officers in FPATT also be licensed agents?
Potentially more opportunities can be found and a bigger network developed IF they have the same contacts as the current people looking after our players.
-
FPATT could create a list of ethical agents who comply with their guidelines. This would not be legally enforcable, but those that do not work within guidelines would be removed from the list. Players can decide which agent they want, but if they choose outside the list, FPATT will have little power if things go wrong.
Eventually, FPATT will have its own agents, but players will still have the right to choose who represents them.
-
This is truly a Historic moment in the life of T&T.
The injustices and skulduggery that has been going on silently for generations. Man gettin rich over naive players. The experiences of the senior warriors will educate the baby warriors and protect from the ills of this world.
On the other hand, if the baby warriors play ignorant to what is taking place with the senior warriors....well monkey will smoke he pants.
We need to hear other stories.....Speak out....let the world get hold of the truth
-
Mike Berry needs to be de-certified...especially in light of todays ruling in the Mel Eves (http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=29326.new#new)case involving Robert Earnshaw's move from Cardiff to West Brom.
-
Mike Berry needs to be de-certified...especially in light of todays ruling in the Mel Eves (http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=29326.new#new)case involving Robert Earnshaw's move from Cardiff to West Brom.
man, Shark, wid mr berry in de company of our dear Mr Warner, I doubt that will EVER happen
JMHO....buh den again, more complicated things have come to past in my life time.
-
Mike Berry needs to be de-certified...especially in light of todays ruling in the Mel Eves (http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=29326.new#new)case involving Robert Earnshaw's move from Cardiff to West Brom.
man, Shark, wid mr berry in de company of our dear Mr Warner, I doubt that will EVER happen
JMHO....buh den again, more complicated things have come to past in my life time.
Jack or FIFA wouldn't have anything to do with de-certification...at least here in the US it's the Player's Union that ratifies the Agents, allowing them to represent players.
-
Mike Berry needs to be de-certified...especially in light of todays ruling in the Mel Eves (http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=29326.new#new)case involving Robert Earnshaw's move from Cardiff to West Brom.
man, Shark, wid mr berry in de company of our dear Mr Warner, I doubt that will EVER happen
JMHO....buh den again, more complicated things have come to past in my life time.
Jack or FIFA wouldn't have anything to do with de-certification...at least here in the US it's the Player's Union that ratifies the Agents, allowing them to represent players.
well look at that...something that FIFA has NO control over :o
ok cool
my bad
den the FPATT and the English Players Union better get to it then ;)
-
Mike Berry needs to be de-certified...especially in light of todays ruling in the Mel Eves (http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=29326.new#new)case involving Robert Earnshaw's move from Cardiff to West Brom.
man, Shark, wid mr berry in de company of our dear Mr Warner, I doubt that will EVER happen
JMHO....buh den again, more complicated things have come to past in my life time.
Jack or FIFA wouldn't have anything to do with de-certification...at least here in the US it's the Player's Union that ratifies the Agents, allowing them to represent players.
well look at that...something that FIFA has NO control over :o
ok cool
my bad
den the FPATT and the English Players Union better get to it then ;)
I mean, I doh want to be too presumptive since I really don't know what the situation in England (the jurisdiction in the Berry case, because that's where the teams and player are based), but FPATT is over dey so he should be able to give a better idea.
-
Leh we see whah happen to Berry like he stop post
-
Guys, I'm not sure of the exact legal technicalities over here. Its very complicated, as a transfer can often involve laws in more than one country.
All I know is that FPATT and other players associations can offer advice to players and direct them to "preferred" agents, or as with the English PFA, represent players themselves. I do not really understand why players in England do not use the PFA agency more. I can only assume its because agents approach players with a deal or make promises of moves to better clubs.
As a group of people, footballers are just as likely to select the wrong agent because of false promises, as stock market traders are of selecting a poor fund manager because of exaggerated future profit potential, or you and I betting on a horse in the Grand National because a friend has given you a hot tip.
However, if certain practises are being consistently highlighted as unfair, then players should be steering clear of entering into these contracts in the future, and perhaps listening more to the players unions.