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Football

29th Sep 2016

Undercover football sting claims another coaching casualty

Shockwaves felt through football

Patrick McCarry

This sting is stinging a lot of football folks.

The Telegraph’s 10-month undercover investigation into corruption in football has gone straight to the top, with the English FA parting ways with Sam Allardyce on Tuesday.

This afternoon, Barnsley FC announced they had terminated the contract of assistant coach Tommy Wright ‘with immediate effect’.

Wright was filmed by undercover reporters taking cash, supposedly in return for helping a fake Far Eastern firm to find players.

The Tykes suspended their assistant coach last night and, today, followed up with this statement:

‘A meeting between the Club and Mr Wright was held this morning attended by Club Chief Executive Linton Brown. After considering Mr Wright’s response to allegations in today’s Daily Telegraph about breaching FA rules over player transfers, Mr Wright was dismissed.

‘The Club was unaware of such matters or involved in any wrongdoing. The Club will continue to fully investigate the issues at hand and will co-operate with the regulatory authorities as necessary.’

Wright was one of three Championship coaches named in the newspaper’s latest report into wrongdoings and suspect practices within English football.

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