Lawyer fined over deal for footballer Kanu

A solicitor paid £50,000 to an unlicensed football agent after negotiating the transfer of former Arsenal and Nigeria striker Nwankwo Kanu (pictured) to West Bromwich Albion in 2004, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has heard.

Ashton Doherty, solicitor at national construction firm SLS, who worked at London solicitors firm Knowles at the time, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £11,000 costs for bringing the profession into disrepute.

At a hearing on 25 February, he was simultaneously cleared of sharing his professional fees after the tribunal decided that the £50,000 paid to unlicensed agent Paul Okoye was a commission payment rather than part of Doherty’s fee. Doherty had argued that the payment was for personal management of the player by Okoye after the conclusion of the transfer, but the SDT ruled that it was a commission.

Football Association rules require players’ agents to be licensed unless they are family members or practising solicitors. Knowles received a £70,000 fee from West Bromwich Albion for Doherty’s work on the transfer.

Arsenal, West Bromwich Albion and Okoye were not accused of any wrongdoing.

RadcliffesLeBrasseur consultant David Morgan, who advised Doherty, said that his client was taken ill after the hearing and was ‘bitterly disappointed and upset’ at the SDT’s decision.

Morgan said that Doherty will await publication of the SDT’s reasons before deciding whether to appeal.