Sam Allardyce's position as England manager has come under scrutiny after he was allegedly caught in a newspaper sting, explaining businessmen how to bend the Football Association's (FA) transfer rules.
The former Sunderland manager, who replaced Roy Hodgson as England in-charge in July 2016 after The Three Lions' poor display in the 2016 European Championship, had also discussed a £400,000 deal which would enable him to travel to Singapore and Hong Kong and talk with potential investors who were interested in third-party ownership of players.
However, the England manager did not know it was the undercover reporters of the Daily Telegraph, who had disguised as the Far East businessmen.
Allardyce has been caught on tape saying there were ways to get around the FA's rules about third-party ownership, as reported by the Telegraph. Notably, the practice, which allows firms to own stakes in a player was banned by FA in 2008 before Fifa followed suit in 2015.
Also, the 61-year-old termed the FA's decision to redevelop Wembley Stadium as "stupid". Allardyce criticised Hodgson saying his predecessor lacked the ability for public speaking and called him "Woy", according to the Telegraph report. He also said Hodgson's assistant Gary Neville should have been asked to "shut up and sit down".
FA Chairman Greg Clarke said he wanted all the details regarding the issue and said it is not appropriate to pre-judge.
"I want all the facts, to hear everything from everyone and make a judgment about what to do. Natural justice requires us to get to the bottom of the issues before we make any decision. It is not appropriate to pre-judge the issue. With things like this you have to take a deep breath," Clarke was quoted as saying by the Mail Online.
Notably, Allardyce only game so far as England in-charge came against Slovakia in the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers on 4 September. With games against Malta and Slovakia lined up on 8 and 11 October, respectively, FA would be worried over their top man's involvement in questionable dealings.
