Footballers and managers react with disappointment to 'bung' investigation
20 Sep 2006
Football players and managers have reacted with disappointment to last night's BBC Panorama investigation, which claimed that corruption is widespread in the sport."I've never been offered a bung in my life," said Douglas "Douggie" Ramsbottom, manager of second division Bootle Athletic. "This is very disappointing indeed. If I'd known this sort of thing was going on I'd have kept my eyes open. I could do with a bit of extra cash."
Premiership footballer Ashley Cole said he too was disappointed. "When you're struggling to get by on £55,000 a week like I am, a bung would really come in handy," he said. "The FA should investigate to find out why people in the game aren't being offered illegal payments on an equal footing."
Two managers mentioned in the programme were Chelsea's José Mourinho and Manchester United's Sir Alex Fergusson, both of whom were offered large bungs to "shut up and never speak again". To the disappointment of many, they turned them down.
Suggestions that the England team and management were bribed to perform poorly in the World Cup were meanwhile dismissed by the FA. "I know what it looks like," a spokesman said, "but there were no bungs. We really were that bad."
