Liverpool ponder BBC legal action

[LondonLiverpoolFan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...ool/5369734.stm

 

Liverpool ponder BBC legal action

 

Liverpool have taken legal advice after featuring in BBC Panorama's investigation into football corruption.

The Reds could face FA charges after agent Peter Harrison was filmed touting Middlesbrough's England youth player Nathan Porritt to the Anfield club.

 

A club official was filmed expressing an interest in the player but boss Rafael Benitez is shocked the club were mentioned in the programme.

 

"We have taken legal advice because we were surprised," said Benitez.

 

The Spaniard, who says there is no place for corruption in football, added: "They have to find solutions.

 

"You have some rules but you can have good agents and bad agents, good managers and bad managers.

 

"If you talk about corruption, you can talk about a lot of things in life.

 

"There are good people and bad people and we have to continue with the good people."

 

Charlton manager Iain Dowie agrees with his Liverpool counterpart in saying anyone found guilty of taking a bung should feel the full force of the law.

 

But he described the outcome of this week's Panorama investigation as "all hearsay and tittle-tattle".

 

"I do not think it is right if that goes on and am totally against it, but I do not see any evidence in the programme," Dowie insisted.

 

"There were no bank statements, no proof - if there is, then that is different.

 

"If there is black-and-white evidence, with payments made, then you have got what is coming to you because it is a job where you are well paid and it should not happen.

 

"If it is so rife, then where is the evidence?

 

"You hear everyone say that it goes on, but I have never experienced it.

 

"If someone was to say to me, 'We will offer you X, Y and Z' I would say that, one, I am not interested and two, I work for the football club.

 

"Furthermore, if someone did say to me 'Here is £200,000', I would not know what to do with it - I would probably put it under the bed."

 

The FA wants Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston to name names after he claimed he had been offered bungs.

 

And unlike Dowie, Oyston, who has been chairman of the League One side since 1999, believes the issue of bungs is still a major problem in football.

 

"I've been offered cash as a bribe to bring a player to the club and it's happened more than once," he said.

 

"In one instance, someone wanted me to take a player on a higher salary than we would normally pay, so he offered me a certain amount of cash as a gift to get me to do it."

 

 

 

Oh and this on the BBC

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...ted/5370844.stm

 

Babayaro charged after Kuyt clash

 

Newcastle's Celestine Babayaro has been charged with violent conduct by the Football Association after a clash with Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt.

Babayaro appeared to catch Kuyt with his arm during the first half of Newcastle's 2-0 defeat at Anfield.

 

The incident was not seen by the match officials, but was caught on video and 28-year-old Babayaro has been offered an automatic three-match ban.

 

He has until Monday 25 September to respond to the charge.

[Kahnee]

"Furthermore, if someone did say to me 'Here is £200,000', I would not know what to do with it - I would probably put it under the bed."

 

[Guest Portly]

I thought the BBC exposé was at its weakest when they tried to implicate Liverpool FC in the "tapping up" of Nathan Porritt. The BBC arranged for the dodgy agent Harrison to turn up at The Academy and tout Porritt to a couple of apparently fairly junior club staff, who said something to the effect that they would always be interested in talented young players. This hardly amounted to "tapping up," which to me would require positive action by Liverpool to speak to the player in defiance of FA rules and behind the backs of the Middlesborough management.

 

I wonder whether the FA "tapping up" regulations would stand up to scrutiny in Court, since as far as I know the laws of the land do not include any provisions under which it is illegal for one person to talk to another person.

[Gomez]

I thought the BBC exposé was at its weakest when they tried to implicate Liverpool FC in the "tapping up" of Nathan Porritt. The BBC arranged for the dodgy agent Harrison to turn up at The Academy and tout Porritt to a couple of apparently fairly junior club staff, who said something to the effect that they would always be interested in talented young players. This hardly amounted to "tapping up," which to me would require positive action by Liverpool to speak to the player in defiance of FA rules and behind the backs of the Middlesborough management.

 

I wonder whether the FA "tapping up" regulations would stand up to scrutiny in Court, since as far as I know the laws of the land do not include any provisions under which it is illegal for one person to talk to another person.

 

Gibson, who would go out of his way to have a go at Liverpool, has already said he has no problem with the way Liverpool have acted, but he does have a problem with the agent. The BBC undermined the whole program with this and the chelski segment, it would not have been so bad had they just kept to criticising the agent, but it tried to make out Liverpool and Chelsea were doing wrong, when it was clear the agent was pushing the issue. It's no wonder Rafa (and Liverpool) did not understand why Liverpool had been included in the programme.

[Scally Bob]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...ool/5369734.stm

 

"There were no bank statements, no proof - if there is, then that is different.

 

"If there is black-and-white evidence, with payments made, then you have got what is coming to you because it is a job where you are well paid and it should not happen.

 

"If it is so rife, then where is the evidence?

 

"Furthermore, if someone did say to me 'Here is £200,000', I would not know what to do with it - I would probably put it under the bed."

 

 

And they reckon Dowie's one of the bright ones!

 

 

I wonder whether the FA "tapping up" regulations would stand up to scrutiny in Court, since as far as I know the laws of the land do not include any provisions under which it is illegal for one person to talk to another person.

 

The weak innuendo of this farcical programme wouldn't stand up in court, as there is no material evidence. However, there are laws that make it illegal for people to talk to each other if the conversations are related to committing an offence-it's conspiracy.

[Benitez]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...ool/5369734.stm

 

Liverpool ponder BBC legal action

 

Liverpool have taken legal advice after featuring in BBC Panorama's investigation into football corruption.

The Reds could face FA charges after agent Peter Harrison was filmed touting Middlesbrough's England youth player Nathan Porritt to the Anfield club.

 

A club official was filmed expressing an interest in the player but boss Rafael Benitez is shocked the club were mentioned in the programme.

 

"We have taken legal advice because we were surprised," said Benitez.

 

 

 

that'll involve Rafa chatting to his missus, who's a lawyer, about it as the show was going on

 

I betcha this doesn't go anywhere. Although it's fair enough that Liverpool made the comments, cos the programme was a load of old toss, and the segment about Liverpool in it was just ridiculous. It had fec all to do with the programme, and just smacked of desperation. Cos the only 'dirt' they could go public with was on lesser clubs managers. It just seemed they picked out Liverpool and Chelsea as they where desperate to get a couple of the bigger clubs in there.

Edited September 23, 2006 by Benitez

[Scally Bob]

It just seemed they picked out Liverpool and Chelsea as they where desperate to get a couple of the bigger clubs in there.

 

So why did they only mention one big club and Chelsea?

[floyd]

So why did they only mention one big club and Chelsea?

Made me laugh when the said "one of the biggest clubs in the world, Chelsea"

For fvcks sake, their probably only the third/fourth biggest club in London.

Edited September 23, 2006 by floyd

[Maldini]

I thought the BBC exposé was at its weakest when they tried to implicate Liverpool FC in the "tapping up" of Nathan Porritt. The BBC arranged for the dodgy agent Harrison to turn up at The Academy and tout Porritt to a couple of apparently fairly junior club staff, who said something to the effect that they would always be interested in talented young players. This hardly amounted to "tapping up," which to me would require positive action by Liverpool to speak to the player in defiance of FA rules and behind the backs of the Middlesborough management.

 

I wonder whether the FA "tapping up" regulations would stand up to scrutiny in Court, since as far as I know the laws of the land do not include any provisions under which it is illegal for one person to talk to another person.

 

The two lads were Frank McParland and Paco Herrera, they're not really junior members of staff, they're (or were) our chief scout/reserve coach and head of academy recruitment. Agree with the rest though.

[kacangpool]

we need to sue, we need the money.

[gkmacca]

What irritates me is when twits like Big Fat Sam respond to a programme commissioned and researched by the BBC's News & Current Affairs department by trying to ban the BBC's sports reporters from the ground. Besides being against the Premiership TV deal, it's as petty as it's ill-conceived. Fergie did the same ages ago, and he's still allowed to get away with it.

[Lou]

What irritates me is when twits like Big Fat Sam respond to a programme commissioned and researched by the BBC's News & Current Affairs department by trying to ban the BBC's sports reporters from the ground. Besides being against the Premiership TV deal, it's as petty as it's ill-conceived. Fergie did the same ages ago, and he's still allowed to get away with it.

I had the misfortune to listen to the odious Garry Richardson this morning on Radio 5. I tend to switch off most weeks as he seems to regard investigative journalism as asking a person the same question over and over again even though they refused to answer it the first time.

He mentioned the issue of clubs refusing access to the BBC and condemmed it. He then said that he'd trailed an interview previously with Stevie and he hoped to be able to broadcast it some time. The implication was definitely that Liverpool are refusing the let them air it and that we're banning access. But I saw no evidence of Rafa refusing to speak to anyone yesterday. It's probably another case of the BBC talking up this issue when they actually having nothing to talk up

[Will]

The BBC arranged for the dodgy agent Harrison to turn up at The Academy and tout Porritt to a couple of apparently fairly junior club staff

Not quite how I'd describe Paco Herrera...

Edited September 24, 2006 by Will