Football for sale: agent who boasted about bribing Sir Alex Ferguson was once banned from the game over match-fixing scandal, court hears

An agent charged with bribery offences following the Daily Telegraph's "Football for Sale" investigation was once banned from the game over a €250,000 match-fixing scam, a court has heard.

Giuseppe "Pino" Pagliara, 64, was punished by the Italian FA after a disciplinary panel ruled he was part of a corrupt group that fixed a crucial Series B game in 2005.

Pagliara - then general manager of Venezia FC - was given a five-year ban from football for ensuring that his side lost to Genoa FC in the final game of the season, jurors were told.

He had been caught leaving a meeting with Genoa's chairman after the match with a briefcase containing €250,000 in cash, Southwark Crown Court heard on Monday.

The Italian was approached by Telegraph journalists who had set up a fake sports company to expose corruption in football in 2016, after he returned to the game as an agent following his ban.

Jurors have heard that he boasted about bribing high profile managers including Sir Alex Ferguson, Steve McClaren, Antonio Conte, Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce during taped meetings with undercover reporters.

But Pagliara insists that he was lying "through my teeth" because he was trying to secure a consultancy contract from the fake sports company worth more than £280,000 a year including expenses.

When approached about the allegations by The Telegraph, he said: "I have never paid money to any of these managers during their employment with any clubs they worked for."

The defendant said the offer of a six-figure contract "represented a fantastic opportunity" and he felt he "had to do anything to make the deal happen".

In a TV interview about the allegations, he said: "I honestly haven't done anything that I feel is wrong other than lie."

Giving evidence on Monday, Pagliara insisted he had been wrongly punished by the Italian FA in 2005 and told the jury he had "no" involvement in match-fixing.

Asked why he was caught with a briefcase full of money following a meeting with Genoa's chairman in 2005, he said: "I had €250,000 plus an invoice for Genoa because of a transfer of a player from Venezia to Genoa."

Pagliara, from Bury in Greater Manchester, and football agent Dax Price, 47, from Barnsley, South Yorks, were charged with two counts of paying and facilitating a bribe following The Telegraph probe.

Tommy Wright, 52, the former Barnsley FC assistant manager, was also charged with two counts of accepting a bribe. The three defendants deny all charges. The trial continues