Albion insist they are innocent victims after FA fine

The Seagulls have denied any dishonesty in the way the club and its officials acted during the deal to bring midfielder Stephens to the Amex from Charlton Athletic last January.

The FA accepted the club was misled by Stephens’ agents Matthew Kleinman and Alex Levack who used a third party, a solicitor called Ali Rahnama, to complete the deal but then pocketed the £75,750 commission themselves.

Levack and Kleinman have both been fined £7,500 and suspended from being agents for 14 months with the FA making it clear they were the “main protagonists” in the matter while Rahnama has been banned for nine months. The two agents have also returned £65,812 of their cut of the deal to Albion which effectively reduces the club’s fine to £24,188.

Albion chief executive Paul Barber said: “From a club point of view, we are very angry. We have never been in a situation like it before and we hope we will never be in it again.

“We were put in a difficult position as we filed the paperwork so it was our responsibility but we did it in good faith. We relied on people we had worked with before and trusted but on this occasion they let us down. We were misled by the agents who have consequently been punished very severely while the level of our fine shows that we are guilty of an administrative error rather than anything to do with deceit.

“The FA have accepted that the club has not acted dishonestly in any way. Obviously we are frustrated as it has cost us a sum of money but we think the fine is fair and support the FA’s desire to ensure that agents conduct themselves properly.”

Levack and Kleinman misled Albion as they wanted to receive commission for facilitating Stephens’ move from Charlton but incorrectly thought they were unable to officially represent either the player or the Seagulls in the deal. The pair believed their agreement with Stephens had expired, when it actually had nine days to run, and were not allowed to work on behalf of the club because they had represented Charlton in another deal during the transfer window.

The FA said in its investigation: “The club (Albion) has a long and distinguished history in football. We accept the evidence that the club was misled by Mr Kleinman however that does not excuse the failure to comply with the regulations.”

The Seagulls have since reinforced their internal procedures when dealing with agents and transfers.

Barber added: “We have conducted dozens if not hundreds of these kind of transactions and this was the only one that has gone wrong so it is not as if it is a problem we have come across before. It is the first time we have ever been in front of the FA for such a matter.

“We have now put another level of checks and balances in place to try to prevent something like it happening again.”