Transfer of Howard raises old concerns

The series of payments that eased the transfer of Tim Howard from the New York/New Jersey MetroStars to Old Trafford highlight two of the less palatable aspects of the football business: the potential for conflicts of interest raised by family ties between agents and managers and the potential for abuse provided by the increasingly complex international transfer market.

Nepotism is not a crime and Jason Ferguson, 31, is just one of several sons of famous footballing fathers who make their living as agents. In a business in which contacts are the key to success, sons have a head start over many of their competitors. Craig Allardyce, the son of the Bolton manager Sam, Jamie Hart whose father Paul manages Nottingham Forest, Kenneth Shepherd, son of Newcastle's chairman Freddy, and Darren Dein, whose father is the Arsenal vice-chairman David, have all benefited from their fathers' contacts and experience.

There is no suggestion that Ferguson has broken any football regulations either in the Howard transfer or any of the other high-profile deals with which he has been associated. But his role in several transfers of players to and from Manchester United has caused unease, not least within the Old Trafford boardroom.

For an organisation that has set the commercial and professional standards for the industry, Manchester United have shown an odd fallibility when it comes to public perceptions of their conduct of transfer dealings. The manager has repeatedly been accused of making illegal approaches to players - last week Fulham's chairman Mohamed Al Fayed accused him of tapping up Louis Saha - and on at least three occasions in the past questions have been raised about his son's role in deals involving the club, said to total £50m and to have included transfers of Juan Sebastián Verón, Roy Carroll and Laurent Blanc. In 2002 it was alleged that Jonathan Greening, the midfielder now at Middlesbrough, was told by the manager that he would "rot in the reserves" if he did not join Jason Ferguson's Elite Management agency.

Other cases echo the allegations surrounding the Howard deal, primarily because of the role reportedly played by Mike Morris, a Monaco-based agent with close ties to Elite. The bill for Morris's mobile phone, the most crucial tool of the agents' trade, is said to be paid by Elite, and Elite's company secretary is thought to act as financial adviser to Morris's World Football agency.

According to claims in the Sunday Times, Morris received £139,000 commission from a Swiss agent, Gaetano Marotta, who United had authorised to negotiate the Howard transfer. Morris did not return calls yesterday, but he was central to two other high-profile United transfers involving Ferguson.

The most profitable was the £16.5m transfer of Jaap Stam to Lazio in 2001. Elite was one of the beneficiaries of £1.4m in commission paid on the deal. At a press conference to announce the purchase Lazio publicly thanked Morris for his role in the transfer, a statement that caused unease at Old Trafford.

In the wake of adverse publicity that followed the deal the United board, led by the then chairman Sir Roland Smith, reminded Ferguson that as a listed company the club must be seen to be above reproach in its business dealings. Ferguson accepted this, but his determination to support his son was plain when Jason negotiated his father's new contract at the club last year.

Last summer Morris was again central in a deal that caused concern. David Bellion, the young French forward joined United from Sunderland prompting their chairman Bob Murray to accuse the club of "tapping up" the striker. He singled out Morris for criticism, alleging that he used Sunderland's written offer to the striker of a 500% pay increase to barter with United. Morris had received £200,000 in fees when recruiting the player to the Stadium of Light from Cannes in 2001.

The problem the FA faces in attempting to get to the bottom of deals such as the Howard transfer is twofold. First there is no actual offence detailed in the allegations published yesterday. Marotta was the declared agent in the deal and is free to spend his commission as he pleases. It is curious that Morris should have received a fee from a deal that, according to one United board member, he was not involved with, but it does not infringe any regulation. The Sunday Times provided no evidence that Jason Ferguson or his father received any payment as a result of the transfer.

The second is the complexity of the transfer market. It is commonplace for deals for foreign players to involve numerous agents, lawyers and representatives sub-contracted to the principal agent. Football's regulations require only that the principal representative is declared, that details of their fees be passed to the FA, and that they receive money from only one side of the deal.

The regulators have no jurisdiction over the network of sub-contracted advisers and still less power to investigate. Without powers to compel disclosure and a far bigger investigative team than currently resides in Soho Square the FA's powers are limited. Particularly when it comes to Manchester United. As one source with knowledge of the investigative process said: "They are consistently the least helpful club in the country. Getting to the bottom of this will be like pissing into the wind."