FA sets up whistleblower hotline and demands audit of January transfers

The Football Association have appointed Quest to conduct an audit into transfers taking place in England, beginning with the recent January transfer window.

The firm of investigators, led by former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens, will also monitor transfers during the summer of 2008.

And in an eyecatching move, the FA have set up a "whistleblower" hotline inviting those in the game to report wrongdoing to the investigators.

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Quest were appointed after a tender process and were chosen because of their previous experience in this area, having conducted an inquiry into transfer irregularities between January 2004 and 2006.

FA director of governance Jonathan Hall said: "We are very pleased to have engaged Quest given their excellent credentials and experience.

"However, this transfer audit is a very different undertaking to their previous inquiry carried out for the Premier League.

"It will focus specifically on reviewing the FA's processes in respect of the new Agents Regulations, assessing compliance with FA Rules and identifying any areas of poor practice within the industry."

Top agent Athole Still, whose high-profile clients include former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, welcomed the move.

"My reaction is, fine. If, this time, they dig up something illegal, then I will be delighted," he said.

"Anything that keeps the game clean and improves the, in many respects, totally unjustified opinion of agents all being money-grabbers and dishonest and so on, is absolutely fine."

The FA says its telephone hotline will allow people to report "any potential problems with the transfer market and the financial side of football generally".

The number for the new line is 0844 980 8218.

The FA's statement continued: "Both these new measures form part of the FA's enhanced regulatory capacity, including extra resource in the Financial Regulation department, upgraded database systems, an information hotline and tailor-made guidance notes based around the new Football Agents Regulations."

The biggest move during the January transfer window was Nicolas Anelka's £15m move from Bolton to Chelsea.

It is understood the audit will focus on a selection of transfers rather than being an exhaustive investigation into all business completed, and will look at Premier League and Football League deals.

In early 2006 the Premier League hired Quest to investigate transfer irregularities in the English game after then Luton manager Mike Newell claimed "a lot of people involved with the agents and doing the deals are taking back-handers".

The inquiry looked at 362 transfers in total and in the final report in June last year 17 transfers involving five clubs were 'uncleared'.

Quest's website describes their work as "helping clients identify the vulnerabilities and security threats to their assets and conducts investigations into malpractice".

It is understood the FA have been discussing the concept of an independent audit for over a year following the introduction of new regulations for agents.