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England parts ways with manager Sam Allardyce after Telegraph sting

England manager Sam Allardyce is being probed by the English FA over a newspaper sting.
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England manager Sam Allardyce has parted ways with the team after an investigation by The Telegraph revealed he had used his position to negotiate a £400,000 ($518,460 USD) deal for advising businessmen on how to circumvent FA rules on player transfers, the FA confirmed on Tuesday. 

The FA reportedly held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation, terminating his contract by mutual consent. He was England manager for one game and 67 days and will be replaced by Gareth Southgate on an interim basis for the next four matches.

In a video posted on the Telegraph's website, Allardyce can be seen meeting twice with journalists who posed as representatives of a Far East agency. The journalists said they were interested in learning how to skirt the rules from the Football Association and FIFA concerning third-party ownership, which has been prohibited since 2008.

"With things like this you have to take a deep breath and have all the facts and hear everything from everyone," FA chairman Greg Clarke said to the Times of London. "Then you can make a judgment about what to do and that's what we will do. Natural justice requires us to get to the bottom of these issues before we make any decision."

The Times later reported that Allardyce was set to be sacked after the allegations surfaced.

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When asked by the undercover reporters if third party ownership was a problem, Allardyce replied. “It’s not a problem… we got [Enner] Valencia in. He was third-party owned when we bought him from Mexico.”

"You can still get around it. I mean obviously the big money's here," Allardyce added. He also calls the regulations "ridiculous."

Allardyce attended the meeting with his agent and financial adviser.

Allardyce also told the reporters that former England manager Roy Hodgson sent his players "all to sleep" and then mimicked a speech impediment.

Allardyce was hired in July after England's loss to Iceland at Euro 2016. England is prepping for its second 2018 World Cup qualifier against Malta in October.

– Scooby Axson