Queens Park Rangers are expected to seek more time to mount a defence against charges by the FA that officials breached player ownership rules as it emerged that the club used a licensed agent to conduct the disputed transfer of Alejandro Faurlín.
It was reported yesterday that Peppino Tirri, an Italian registered as an independent agent by the FA, brokered the £3.5 million deal to bring the Argentine midfield player to London from Instituto in 2009.
Tirri was close to the Real Madrid regime under Florentino Pérez, the former president, when he was involved in the transfer of players including Luís Figo and, more recently, he represented Gareth Bale, the Tottenham Hotspur and Wales winger.
However, Victory Sport, his registered UK company, was dissolved last year, according to Companies House records, while his office and mobile numbers were unobtainable yesterday.
QPR have been charged by the FA under its regulations concerning the use of an unauthorised agent and with seeking to “conceal or misrepresent the reality and/or substance of any matters in relation to a transaction or a contract negotiation”.
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The latter charge relates to the renegotiation of Faurlín’s contract last October. Club officials are accused of submitting false documentation relating to the player’s registration, which was partially owned by third-party investors, in contravention of FA rules. The club were allowed to buy out the third-party contract in January so that Faurlín could continue playing.
The club have denied the charges, which will be heard by an independent arbitration panel, chaired by a QC.
Last night the FA had yet to receive a formal reply from QPR to the charges, although the club have said that their lawyers will contest them and they expect to be exonerated of any “deliberate wrongdoing”.
QPR, seven points clear at the top of the npower Championship, face a fine or a points deduction if found guilty.