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LMA calls on newspaper to disclose evidence of bungs

Former England soccer manager Sam Allardyce speaks to media as he leaves his home in Bolton, Britain September 28, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Neill

LONDON (Reuters) - The League Manager's Association (LMA) says it is "deeply concerned" with allegations of corruption involving some of its members and has urged the Daily Telegraph to forward evidence to England's football authorities. The newspaper, whose investigation led to England manager Sam Allardyce leaving after 67 days in charge, made claims against Barnsley assistant manager Tommy Wright and Queens Park Rangers' manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on Wednesday. Wright has been suspended by the second tier club while QPR said an internal investigation would be carried out. Both deny any wrongdoing. On Thursday the LMA accused the Daily Telegraph of withholding further information. "Following further revelations by the Telegraph and a follow up LMA meeting with the FA this morning, the LMA remains extremely concerned about allegations made against a number of managers and individuals in the game," a statement said. "Alongside The FA, and the other principal stakeholders in the game, we want to fully investigate any and all substantive allegations of corruption, quickly and comprehensively. "Very disappointingly, this process is being delayed as the Telegraph is yet to provide to The FA, as requested, full and complete unconditional disclosure of all information it has." "We urge the Telegraph to provide full disclosure of all its information relating to the allegations, including all recordings, transcripts and full details of how the information was obtained, to The FA, immediately." On Wednesday the Daily Telegraph said it secretly filmed Wright accepting a cash "bung" of 5,000 pounds after agreeing to help a fake Far Eastern firm which wanted to profit from transfers. The allegations were published 24 hours after Allardyce left the England job for "inappropriate" conduct following secret filming that showed him offering advice to businessmen on how to "get around" rules on player transfers. The Football Association, Premier League and Football League issued a joint statement about the allegations. "English football takes the governance of the game extremely seriously with integrity being of paramount importance," it read. "Any substantive allegations will be investigated with the full force of rules at our disposal." The statement added that any evidence of criminality would be referred to law enforcement authorities. (Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)