Telegraph Corruption Sting: My Thoughts

102 views0

Telegraph Corruption Sting: My Thoughts

By James Hughes

Just when you thought that scandals didn’t get bigger than the FIFA one, another scandal has been in the news. This one involves the English Premier League. Some weeks back, the Daily Telegraph uncovered a string of reports that exposed huge figures in English football who would bend the rules and make some cash for themselves while at it. Sad right? It becomes even more shocking when you realize that these people were FILMED as they were in negotiations to make illegal profit off the beautiful game.Figures like Sam Allardyce, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Harry Redknapp, Eric Black and others have been reported to have negotiated deals with a phony Middle East firm to either purchase players from the Middle East (making money off that), or just giving tips and advice on how to bend the rules in the game. The fall-out has been massive. Sam Allardyce is the biggest casualty as he lost his job as the England national team coach after just 67 days. QPR boss Hasselbaink was reported to have cried out his apology to his employers and a host of other people involved are still under internal investigation while they wait for the Telegraph to provide the evidence they gathered (I don’t understand; the evidence is crawling all over the internet). It’s going to take some recovering for the English game; much like Italy in 2006.But let me drop a few thoughts.First off, thank God this happened in Europe and not Africa. It further proves that football corruption is everywhere, and not just in this continent. Had this happened in Nigeria, every Nigerian involved in football would have been tagged in it like it is Instagram.Another thing to note is that this was all organized by the Daily Telegraph. A group of journalists posed as investors from the Middle East to expose some money-grabbing individuals in football. That is brilliant. Not only have they exposed a major issue in the sport but they will have readable gist for weeks. There is no way their readership cannot increase. Talk about unconventional marketing.Finally, I think we need to do this here in Nigeria. Hold on, I know it’s been reported many times that corruption exists within Nigerian football but most times, the evidence is seriously lacking. We need to find a way to expose the real crooks in our sport. It’s time to move away from ‘he said, she said’ and on to ‘Look at what he/she did’. Maybe if we have these guys caught red-handed, we can start healing our sport once and for all.How do we do that? I’m not sure. Maybe we can get some guys to dress up like South African investors who want to invest in our league (for some ridiculous reason). We make sure their accent is right so it sells the proposition. Set up the meetings, press ‘RECORD’, and pray to God that they don’t catch you. Sounds like a plan right? Hmmmn. I’ve always fancied a South African accent.Later.By Soccerchatterbox

Discover more from NewsBreakers

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

What's your reaction?

Excited
0
Happy
0
In Love
0
Not Sure
0
Silly
0
James Hughes
Previous
Next

Leave a Reply