The BBC investigative TV show Panorama today revealed the people inside the Premiership who were accused of agreeing to bribes and being involved in tapping scandals.

Here are the people who were named:

  • Bolton manager Sam Allardyce: Agent Teni Yerima says he bribed the Bolton boss.
  • Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp: Secretly filmed (then a Southampton manager) discussing with an agent the possibility of buying a Blackburn player (i.e. tapping up).
  • Chelsea’s director of youth football Frank Arnesen: Secretly filmed tapping up a 15-year-old Middlesbrough player.
  • Newcastle assistant manager Kevin Bond: As former Portsmouth assistant manager, Panorama reveals he would consider receiving payments from an agent.
  • Craig Allardyce, Big Sam’s son: Allegedly received secret payments from agents involving three separate Bolton transfers.

If you remember, Chelsea was warned in the past that they would be deducted three points if they were ever caught tapping up again (after the Ashley Cole saga). Will the Premier League follow through on their promise?

It’ll be interesting to see how this affects Allardyce and Redknapp. Their next match is against each other on Monday when Portsmouth entertain Bolton live on Fox Soccer Channel at 3pm ET. And it’s going to be a true test of the character of two of the better English managers. Between now and Monday (and beyond), the focus will be on the scandals and the match will, unfortunately, be secondary.

To read BBC’s version of the story, visit the Panorama link here. Unfortunately the Panorama TV episode will not be available via the BBC web site, but an abbreviated version will be. A transcript for the show may be released in the coming days. Click on the link above to learn more.

The Times newspaper of London is playing down the scandal. They believe Redknapp is in the clear after weak evidence. But the fallout from this one will definitely hurt Big Sam and Chelsea. The October 2nd findings from the Premier League into transfer irregulations can’t come a minute too soon.