Tweet
The Championship leaders could face a points deduction after the club and their chairman, Gianni Paladini, were charged with seven breaches of FA regulations in relation to the transfer of Argentine midfielder Alejandro Faurlin.
The charges relate to breaches of third-party ownership rules, use of an unlicensed agent and Paladini is alleged to have provided false information to the FA.
Faurlin was transferred from FC Instituto de Cordoba in July 2009 but his economic rights were owned by a third-party, believed to be a South American business, rather than QPR.
Faurlin’s transfer fee is listed as £3.4 million, making him the club’s record signing, but there were claims last night from Cordoba that the fee was paid to the un-named third-party rather than FC Instituto.
Inter Milan are reported to have received £500,000 from the deal as they had first option.
Telegraph Sport understands the agent involved in the deal was Peppino Tirri, a London-based Italian who at the time of the deal was not licensed by Fifa to operate in the UK.
Tirri, who has claimed to work for a number of high-profile players including Luis Figo and Wesley Sneijder, was unobtainable on Thursday on the telephone numbers listed on the Fifa website.
The FA will pursue the charges despite QPR’s claim of innocence because they only revealed the third-party involvement after Faurlin had been at the club for more than a year.
QPR only acted in the summer of 2010 when the Football League adopted rules banning third-party ownership of players. The club asked the league if they could buy out the third-party to conform with the new rules, and were referred to the Fa, which controls player registrations.
The FA were approached in August and began investigating the rule breach. In October 2010 QPR renegotiated Faurlin’s contract, at which stage the FA allege Paladini provided false information.
The FA will await a response from QPR’s lawyers before setting a date for any disciplinary hearing, but the club can expect a severe penalty if found guilty.
The FA does not publish its potential sanctions, but they range from a fine to the loss of points, potentially imperilling the club’s promotion chances.
The charges relate to breaches of third-party ownership rules, use of an unlicensed agent and Paladini is alleged to have provided false information to the FA.
Faurlin was transferred from FC Instituto de Cordoba in July 2009 but his economic rights were owned by a third-party, believed to be a South American business, rather than QPR.
Faurlin’s transfer fee is listed as £3.4 million, making him the club’s record signing, but there were claims last night from Cordoba that the fee was paid to the un-named third-party rather than FC Instituto.
Inter Milan are reported to have received £500,000 from the deal as they had first option.
Telegraph Sport understands the agent involved in the deal was Peppino Tirri, a London-based Italian who at the time of the deal was not licensed by Fifa to operate in the UK.
Tirri, who has claimed to work for a number of high-profile players including Luis Figo and Wesley Sneijder, was unobtainable on Thursday on the telephone numbers listed on the Fifa website.
The FA will pursue the charges despite QPR’s claim of innocence because they only revealed the third-party involvement after Faurlin had been at the club for more than a year.
QPR only acted in the summer of 2010 when the Football League adopted rules banning third-party ownership of players. The club asked the league if they could buy out the third-party to conform with the new rules, and were referred to the Fa, which controls player registrations.
The FA were approached in August and began investigating the rule breach. In October 2010 QPR renegotiated Faurlin’s contract, at which stage the FA allege Paladini provided false information.
The FA will await a response from QPR’s lawyers before setting a date for any disciplinary hearing, but the club can expect a severe penalty if found guilty.
The FA does not publish its potential sanctions, but they range from a fine to the loss of points, potentially imperilling the club’s promotion chances.
Comment