Bungs are rife, says QPR boss

Queens Park Rangers chairman Nick Blackburn revealed today that offers of bungs to managers were still part of football.

In a programme about football agents to be broadcast on BBC2 tonight, the QPR chief alleged one agent had even calculated a bung in his fee during dealings over a free transfer.

Without identifying the people involved, Blackburn said he was alerted to the problem when the manager told him that the agent was demanding a £50,000 fee. Blackburn said the fee was ridiculous and asked the manager to quiz the agent why it was needed for a free transfer.

The QPR chairman told the programme: "The manager called me back and said 'I can't believe what I have just heard. I rang the agent and he said it is £50,000 because he believes he has to pay me around £30,000 of the money'.

"He costed into his agent's fee that there was going to be a bung to the manager. It's unbelievable."

The biggest scandal on backhanders involved former Arsenal manager George Graham, who left the club under a cloud after being found guilty of taking bungs on transfer deals totalling £425,500.