To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

'Corrupt' Football Agent Claims Sir Alex Ferguson Match-Fixed Champions League Game For £30,000 Gold Rolex

'Corrupt' Football Agent Claims Sir Alex Ferguson Match-Fixed Champions League Game For £30,000 Gold Rolex

Giuseppe “Pino” Pagliara made the unsubstantiated claims in a secretly recorded conversation...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Sir Alex Ferguson is the subject of unsubstantiated claims that he match-fixed a game during his illustrious 26-year stint in charge of Manchester United.

The accusations have been made by "corrupt" football manager Giuseppe "Pino" Pagliara, who is currently on trial for bribery along with Dax Price, another agent, and former Barnsley assistant Tommy Wright.

The three men, who all deny the charges they are facing, were part of The Telegraph's in-depth exposing of corruption within football back in 2016.

On Thursday, Southwark crown court heard the claims from Pagliara that 13-time Premier League winner Ferguson match-fixed a Champions League against Juventus and received a £30,000 gold rolex as a result. He also stated that Ferguson would pocket backhanded fees off agents from transfers.

These claims, of which no evidence has been found at this time, come from a secretly recorded conversation 64-year old Pagliara had with undercover journalist Claire Newell in Manchester in June 2016.

Newell used the fake name Claire Taylor and convinced Pagliara she worked for Meirana, a made up sports management firm.

According to The Mirror, prosecutor Brian O'Neill QC said the following: "Towards the end of the meeting Pagliara launched into what could only be described as a diatribe of Sir Alex Ferguson, accusing him of having conspired with Pagliara to fix the result of a football match between Juventus, a club which Pagliara was associated with, and Manchester United in the Champions League for which Pagliara had thanked him with a gold 30 grand Rolex watch.

"Pagliara went on to accuse Sir Alex Ferguson of having taken money as part of transfer deals. He claimed that he had paid Ferguson before."

In meetings taped, Pagliara said he knew "every single manager in the country" and talked about corruption in football.

As well as Ferguson, claims about Steve McLaren, Harry Redknapp and Neil Warnock were all mentioned in the trial but none will be used in the prosecution's case.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, Football, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Juventus, Champions League