Parry denies `bung' inquiry whitewash

BY GUY HODGSON

Football's "bungbusters" will not shirk from naming guilty men when they make their initial report within the next fortnight.

Rick Parry, the FA's Premier League chief executive, repeated that the inquiry into football's finances has unearthed little evidence of "major misdemeanours" since the League was set up. But that does not mean the Commission's findings will be a whitewash.

Parry is surprised at the emphasis given to a BBC radio interview in which he said: "The problem is not as widespread as has been suggested, which is a relief. Certainly there are very clear indications that in the last couple of years there have not been any major misdemeanours or problems, and that most of the problems we've identified have been from 1992 or earlier."

But that does not imply the inquiry, which includes Parry, Robert Reid QC and Steve Coppell, of the Football League Managers' Association, will give the game a clean bill of health.

The Commission will meet again in the next few days to review its initial findings before passing them to the FA who must decide what action is required.

Glenn Helder, the Dutch international winger wanted by Arsenal, returned to the Netherlands yesterday, but George Graham is confident of signing him next week. "He just wants a few days to think it over," the Arsenal manager said after agreeing a £2.3m fee with Vitesse Arnhem. The fee will take Graham's spending this year to nearly £6m after buying strikers John Hartson from Luton and Chris Kiwomya from Ipswich last month.

Stuart Pearce, will return to the Nottingham Forest side at Newcastle this afternoon after revealing that he may leave the club. His manager, Frank Clark, has confirmed that the England full-back is considering a move to Kobe in Japan. "There could be an opportunity for Stuart to earn an awful lot of money out there but I'm hoping to persuade him to stay," Clark said.

Peter Shilton will sit out today's game for his new club, Wimbledon, at Aston Villa. The Dons assistant manager, Terry Burton, confirmed the temporary signing of the 45-year-old former England goalkeeper and ex- Plymouth boss, who joins Wimbledon for a week as cover for their Dutch goalkeeper Hans Segers.

Garry Parker's move from Aston Villa to Leicester went through yesterday. The deal, valued at £550,000, involves Franz Carr going in the other direction. Carr has been signed as cover for Dwight Yorke, although news of John Fashanu being out for the rest of the season will not have harmed his first-team chances.

A scan revealed that Fashanu damaged knee ligaments when tackling Ryan Giggs in the game against Manchester United last week and he will be out of action for at least three months. He has played only 16 games this season after missing three months with an Achilles tendon injury.

n TheManchester United midfielder Roy Keane, the Motherwell striker Tommy Coyne and Tranmere's John Aldridge have withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad to meet England in Dublin on Wednesday.

n Fifa, the game's international governing body, has cancelled the world youth championships, scheduled for Nigeria, because of cholera and meningitis outbreaks. The decision was called "an insult to Nigeria and black Africa" by the administrator of the country's National Sports Commission.