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Sam Allardyce facing sack after 68 days as England football manager

Sam Allardyce facing sack after 68 days as England football manager

The FA is considering sacking Sam Allardyce after he was exposed attempting to broker a £400,000 deal and discussing ways to evade strict rules on third-party ownership.

Allardyce has held showdown talks with Football Association chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn met at Wembley.

They are understood to be disturbed by the nature of the allegations so soon into Allardyce's tenure, which raise questions about his judgement and suitability for the highest profile job in the game.

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Allardyce was expected to tell them he is deeply embarrassed about the expose, but believes his comments were ill-advised rather than corrupt.

So far neither side has made any comment, although a statement is expected soon.

Shortly after taking over the national side, Allardyce twice met a group of people he believed were representatives of a Far East firm.

However, the "businessmen" were actually undercover reporters working on a Daily Telegraph investigation.

Footage appears to show him telling them it was possible to get around Football Association rules - enforced since 2008 - that stop third parties "owning" football players' economic rights.

The practice was also banned by world governing body FIFA in May 2015.

Live Blog: Will Sam Allardyce survive as England boss?

Allardyce was set to tell Clarke and Glenn that he was approached to discuss the possibility of giving a number of speeches on motivation and management, not football.

As the Daily Telegraph points out, he is insistent that any agreement would first have to be ratified by his employers.

He was also expected to say that his explanation of third-party ownership was inaccurate and as England manager he was wrong to offer an opinion.

Asked about the rules by the journalists, 'Big Sam' was filmed on a hidden camera saying: "It's not a problem."

He told the reporters that an unnamed group had been "doing it for years" and "you can still get around it".

But he is also shown criticising an unnamed football agent who asks him about making payments to players, warning him: "You can't go there any more."

On the footage he is heard to say: "You get a percentage of the player's agent's fee that the agent pays to you, the company, because he's done that new deal at the club again or they sell him on, and you're not getting a part of the transfer fee any more, because you can't do that.

"But, you get - because of the size of the contracts now, the contract will be worth thirty, forty million, at 10% and you've done a deal with the agent where you're getting five percent of the agent's fee, which is massive for doing about two hours' work."

The newspaper claims a deal was struck with Allardyce worth £400,000.

As England manager, 61-year-old is paid £3m a year plus bonuses.

In the Telegraph tape, Allardyce also criticises his predecessor Roy Hodgson for being indecisive and at one point mocks his voice by calling him "Woy".

According to the Telegraph, the FA has requested to see "the full facts in relation to this matter" and it has agreed to hand over the "relevant transcripts".

A spokesman for the newspaper said: "These run to many hundreds of pages so will take some time to collate.

"In line with our investigations protocol, some material has already been passed to the police."

The Telegraph has also reported that Allardyce complained about the UK tax system during its probe into alleged corruption in football, describing HMRC as the "most corrupt business" in Britain.

Allardyce, who has himself been investigated twice over his tax affairs, allegedly told undercover reporters: "The most corrupt business in our country would be what?

"You'll be shocked when I tell you this - HMRC. They fly out tax demands without any real knowledge whether they should or shouldn't."

West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has said Allardyce will be "disappointed in himself" over his reported comments.

Brady, who worked alongside him when he managed the club from 2011 to 2015, told BBC radio: "This is a man who spent his whole life trying to get that job and got it in his 60s.

"And what a great shame if he loses that job through non-footballing reasons. And I think he'll be disappointed in himself."

Allardyce is set to name his squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers on Sunday, including what will be his first home match in charge against Malta on 8 October.

The one game he has so far overseen was a World Cup qualifier away against Slovakia on 4 September.

It ended in a 1-0 victory for England, thanks to an injury time winner from Adam Lallana.

Allardyce managed more than 10 clubs before taking the England job just over two months ago, including Newcastle, West Ham, Sunderland and Bolton.

Should he go, England under-21 manager Gareth Southgate is likely to be put in temporary charge for the games with Malta and Slovenia.