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Exclusive: Liverpool tapping-up saga finally reaches resolution as club and Premier League agree to pay compensation
The Liverpool tapping-up scandal was finally resolved on Wednesday after the club and Premier League agreed to pay the school fees and compensation of the 13-year-old victim.
More than a year after the Anfield side’s illicit pursuit of the unnamed schoolboy left his family in thousands of pounds of debt and him unable to play academy football until Stoke City were paid £49,000, they and the league reached an out-of-court settlement with his parents.
That spared the boy being thrown out of the private school he had been attending since the age of nine, initially on a two-year scholarship secured by his father and then at the expense of Stoke.
Their plight was exclusively chronicled by Telegraph Sport, which also revealed the lengths to which Liverpool were allegedly prepared to go to lure him to Anfield and to conceal their tapping-up from the authorities.
The club, who were banned from signing academy players from other league teams over the saga as well as being fined £100,000, faced being sued by the boy’s family following the collapse of a deal to sign him from Stoke that would have seen them cover his school fees.
Liverpool and the Premier League said in a joint statement: “The Premier League and Liverpool FC have reached a constructive agreement regarding the future education of a young player who was unable to register with the club.
“Under the terms of the agreement, the player will be able to continue his education at his current school.
“He will also be free to join another club in the academy system without that club being required to pay compensation, which has been settled with his former club, Stoke City FC.
“We understand this has been a difficult situation for the young person. We are pleased for him that it has been resolved and wish him a successful future.”
A spokesman for the family declined to comment on the outcome of a case which the boy told the Telegraph in May had made him “sad” and “stressed”.
His father added: “It’s seriously had an impact on my health. The sleepless nights, the worry that I’ve had to cope with this.
“It’s had an impact on all the family. If I’m stressed, they’re all stressed.”
Among the allegations made by the family against Liverpool were that they instructed the boy’s father to lie to Premier League investigators about their tapping-up of his son.
The club were also accused of submitting a “falsified” document to the Premier League when trying to register the boy.
Liverpool denied both allegations but admitted breaching rules brought in during the summer of 2016 designed to prevent poaching in the academy game.
That included severe restrictions on the paying of private school fees, which ultimately led to the collapse of their move for the boy at the centre of the scandal.
The family blew the whistle after being left to foot that bill, which Liverpool refused to cover until today, despite Manchester City having done just that for two scholars they were found guilty of tapping up.