Report: Allardyce set to be fired as England boss following sting
England manager Sam Allardyce is on the brink of being fired after explosive allegations emerged Monday claiming he asked for £400,000 from undercover reporters in exchange for offering advice on how to circumvent transfer rules as they relate to third-party ownership.
Related - Report: Allardyce advised undercover reporters how to 'get around' FA rules
The Telegraph, which published its exclusive report after an extensive investigation, claims Allardyce held a conference call with FA brass on Monday, and will be travelling to London to meet with chairman Greg Clarke today in a bid to explain himself.
The report continues:
FA chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn were holding an emergency meeting at Wembley Stadium, the organisation’s headquarters, on Tuesday morning to discuss the allegations and are understood to be deeply concerned.
Allardyce is said to be "pessimistic" about the prospect of retaining the job he undertook just two months ago, with The Times reporting that U-21 boss Gareth Southgate is in line to be named interim England manager for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia.
The 61-year-old Allardyce, colloquially known as "Big Sam", was caught on video meeting with undercover reporters posing as businessmen who were looking for information on how to get around FA and FIFA rules that prohibit the involvement of third-party ownership groups in transfer deals.
"You can still get around it. I mean obviously the big money's here," he said on the video.
The Telegraph report claims the Three Lions' bench boss, who has only overseen one match with the national side, was trying to orchestrate a £400,000 deal in which he would travel to Singapore and Hong Kong in order to consult his acquaintances on evading the rules.
Those regulations, which have been in place in England since 2008 and were implemented by FIFA in 2015, were dubbed "ridiculous" by Allardyce.
Third-party ownership, which is commonplace in South American football, sees a group purchase a portion of a player's rights - often at a young age - in order to then profit when he is transferred to another club.
FA chairman Dyke says the association is gathering as much information as possible before coming to a decision on Allardyce's future.
"I got a call related to the issue and I want the facts and I will look into it - it is not appropriate to pre-judge the issue. With things like this you have to take a deep breath and have all the facts and hear everything from everyone.
"Then you can make a judgement about what to do and that's what we will do. Natural justice requires us to get the bottom of these issues before we make any decision."