Wigan supremo demands agent ban

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has called for the eight agents who refused to co-operate with Lord Stevens' inquiry to be banned from football.

Stevens this week announced the findings of his Quest team's nine-month inquiry into alleged illegal payments by revealing that 17 transfers - out of 362 - still require further investigation because eight football agents have failed to co-operate.

"I would take away the licenses from all the players' agents who, it has been claimed, failed to co-operate with the investigation," Whelan told the Daily Mail. "They say the truth never hurts, and these particular agents should no longer be allowed to trade."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he was not taken aback by the findings of the Stevens report but claimed it was "not realistic" to think every transfer was totally clean.

"In England everything is so controlled that I am not surprised that they did not discover anything," said the Frenchman.

"But it would not be realistic to think that every transaction is spot on."

The Football Association have called on the Premier League to tell clubs to boycott the eight agents who have refused to co-operate with the inquiry.

Stevens and the Premier League have requested the FA to use their powers to compel agents to co-operate - but the FA believe the clubs have a powerful role to play too.