Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger has told ESPN in an exclusive interview that he is shocked by revelations of corruption in English football.
Krueger, also the head coach of Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey, revealed his dismay at the Daily Telegraph's investigations which led to Sam Allardyce's exit from the national team job and also claimed that eight managers who have worked in the Premier League had accepted bungs.
"I have to tell you, really, absolutely shocked and shuddered," he told ESPN. "Our whole board is shocked and upset by it. Multiple messages through the day yesterday and this morning. We've been a club that's been driving, wanting to get control of the evolving agent world around us and we believe we're going to have ears now.
"Southampton is built on a completely honest and open culture and on values. The reason I took the job was the unbelievable value structure and foundation of our owner, Katharina Liebherr... That's why I embraced this, was to be able to lead and be the de facto owner of an organization where it was driven by culture. So we're extremely upset by this."
Krueger insisted that Southampton would lead the way to ensure that the Premier League would tighten regulations in an effort to curb such things in the future.
"We see it as a shocking evolution that -- I wouldn't say we're so naive to believe that this didn't exist, but we did think it wasn't part of our English football culture," he added.
"We're going to use this, for sure, as a club, to fight for change and to fight for more regulation. We are all for regulation, and we are one of the most disciplined clubs in English football in terms of the way we deal with agents and youth academy players.
"Staying within the rules is something we really -- everything we do is based on that. We will react for sure. It's going to become a major thing for me when I get back. Absolutely top of the agenda."