- guardian.co.uk, Friday August 29 2008 00.01 BST
- The Guardian, Friday August 29 2008
Willie McKay is upset with the way the FA has acted. Photograph: Jon Buckle/Empics/PA
The high-profile agent Willie McKay has demanded a meeting with the Football Association after claiming the full, 100-page transcript of his interview with the Quest team investigating alleged corruption in football has been passed to Portsmouth by Soho Square officials.
McKay and Portsmouth had been charged by the FA with breaches of rules in relation to the transfer of Benjani Mwaruwari to and from the club. Under the FA's regulations agents are prohibited from acting for two different clubs in two consecutive transactions involving the same player, something McKay is alleged to have done when Benjani joined Portsmouth and then Manchester City.
He explained that he had no objection to Portsmouth being in possession of the extracts of the Quest interview relating to his role in Benjani's transfers to and from the club but believed there was no reason for Portsmouth to be in receipt of the entire document, much of which relates to his work at other clubs.
"My lawyers have asked for a meeting with the FA because I still believe there is a witch-hunt, because, at the end of the day, what are my transfers to Rangers, Liverpool and Newcastle to do with Portsmouth?" asked McKay. "The part when I was interviewed about Benjani, OK, an extract of that should have been sent to Portsmouth. I'm OK with that. But sending the whole interview to Portsmouth, which lasted about six hours and was a document of about 100 pages ..."
McKay said he had lodged an appeal against the FA charges. It is alleged he acted on behalf of Auxerre when Benjani left to join Portsmouth in January 2006 and then later acted for Portsmouth when the forward moved to City. The rule, however, was not in place when Benjani joined Portsmouth. "At the end of the day, if I've done it I've done it, but what have I done wrong?" said McKay.
The FA confirmed that paperwork had been sent to Portsmouth in the wake of the Benjani charges, but would not comment on McKay's claim that the full transcript of his Quest interview was with the Premier League club. "We are not prepared to discuss the details of an ongoing case due to confidentiality," said an FA spokesman. Portsmouth, who have said they will strongly contest the charges, did not respond to calls last night, and no one was available for comment at Quest.
The agent's interview with Quest was conducted after the Premier League set up an independent inquiry to look into 362 transfer deals. Last year Quest emphasised that it had not discovered any irregular payments in transfers involving McKay.
