PFA chief Taylor backs soccer passport probe

Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor has welcomed an investigation into claims that English clubs are fielding…

Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor has welcomed an investigation into claims that English clubs are fielding illegal players.

Police have confirmed they will be examining passports of 80 players born outside the European Union and competing in the Premiership and Nationwide League on dual-nationality EU passports.

Taylor agreed that questions needed to be asked to stop the "open-house" situation currently existing within the English game.

"I do welcome an investigation if some clubs have knowingly complied with forged passports because there is sporting rules here as well as criminal laws at stake," he told Radio 5 Live.

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"I think you either have an open house or you have rules that protect the game's integrity and at the moment it appears to be open house in England."

Taylor argued that much of the blame for the problem lay at the door of football agents. He said: "Clearly there has been a racket organised by the agents for money to get passports to make sure they do not have work permits. Or where a team has three or more non-EU players in the squad then it suits them also to have such a passport."

Sports Minister Kate Hoey, Home Office representatives and the National Criminal Intelligence Service will be meeting next week and NCIS officials, working with the Home Office immigration department, will examine the authenticity of European passports held by those players born outside the EU.

The issue became a high-profile one after revelations about passports held by Newcastle United's 'Peruvian-Greek' Nolberto Solano and Arsenal's 'Lithuanian-Greek' Tomas Danilevicius. The transfer of Brazilian Edu to Arsenal has also come under the spotlight.