Dodgy Dealings In Toon?

Last updated : 06 September 2006 By Footy Mad - Editor



 
Guardian: "Newcastle United lied and some of Britain's top football agents misled the Football Association, according to a VAT and Duties tribunal.
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"The tribunal, a legal body, decided last month that Newcastle are not entitled to reclaim VAT on payments made to agents, including some of the game's biggest names, in 21 deals between 2001 and 2003."

Newcastle have "emphatically rejected" claims they had deliberately sought to mislead the Football Association.

Newcastle are eager to clarify their position over an issue which is also believed to affect a number of other top clubs, and which revolves around a regulation they believe is fundamentally unworkable.

FIFA rules state that an agent can only act for one party on a transfer. The tribunal reportedly accuses Newcastle of lying, by declaring on their transfer forms to the FA that the agents had acted solely for the club, when in fact they represented the players.

Newcastle said in a statement: "Like every other club when a player is signed the standard forms of the FA invite an answer to the question regarding agency representation.

"Since the club engaged the services of an agent and continues to believe that it engaged the services of the agent to represent it in all the cases before the tribunal, registration forms were completed accordingly."

An FA spokesman said they had no comment to make on the issue while they believed a Newcastle appeal was pending.