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21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 MARCH 2016 FOOTBALL Sunderland CEO Margaret Byrne resigns Margaret Byrne has left her role as Sunderland chief executive officer admitting she made a "serious mistake" over her handling of the Adam Johnson affair SUNDERLAND also expressed their regret that the young girl and her family were not only let down by Johnson's "despicable actions" but by the club itself. Johnson was last week found guilty of sexual activity with a child having previously admit- ted two other lesser charges of grooming and sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. During the trial it was claimed Byrne received transcripts of po- lice interviews, in which Johnson confessed to kissing a school- girl, and copies of his WhatsApp messages with her as early as May 4, 2015. However, Johnson continued to play for Sunderland after this date and was only sacked by the club after he entered the two guilty pleas. Sunderland released a state- ment defending their conduct, insisting Johnson had told them he would plead not guilty to all charges but questions were asked about how much Byrne knew. And Byrne has now resigned, saying in a statement: "I recog- nise that, as CEO, my involve- ment with Mr Johnson and the decision to allow him to contin- ue to represent Sunderland was a serious mistake." Byrne also admitted to meet- ing with Orlando Pownall, QC who was subsequently appointed as Johnson's counsel and who sent her a note "which recorded, amongst other things, that Mr Johnson had kissed the victim and communicated with her." Her statement then continues: "I did not share this informa- tion with anybody including the board of Sunderland AFC." But Byrne is adamant she had no idea Johnson intended to plead guilty to any of the charg- es, adding: "Contrary to what has been suggested, I did not under- stand that Mr. Johnson intended to change his plea at trial or at all. I was astounded when he did plead guilty. I accept that Mr. Johnson should not have been permit- ted to play again, irrespective of what he was going to plead. It was a serious error of judgment and "I accept full responsibility for this." Sunderland statement In full "The Board of Sunderland AFC has today accepted the resigna- tion of Margaret Byrne. "Margaret, in her role as CEO, was responsible for the running of the club. She was also account- able for the actions taken by the club in relation to Mr. Johnson. "Sunderland AFC acknowl- edges that Margaret's intentions have always been to act in the best interests of the club, how- ever it has become clear through our own internal investigations that in this instance decisions have been taken by Margaret in error. "Whilst swift and decisive ac- tion was taken to terminate Mr. Johnson's employment upon his guilty plea, decisions taken prior to this, including the decision not to suspend him for a second time pending the outcome of the trial, were wrong. "In light of what has been ac- knowledged by Margaret as a serious error of judgment on her part, we have undertaken a full review of the club's decision- making processes to ensure that there can be no such mistakes in the future. "Throughout this deeply re- gretful situation, we recognise that one devoted young fan and her family have been very badly let down, first and foremost by Mr. Johnson and his despicable actions, but also by the club they support. We are so very sorry for this. "Mr. Johnson lied to the club; he also lied to our fans and they have every right to feel ag - grieved by this. Lessons have been learned and we hope that the club and its fans can move forward from this together." Margaret Byrne Watch Europa League for FREE with Melita Thursday, 10 March 7:00 PM Dortmund v Tottenham Thursday, 10 March 9:05 PM Liverpool v Manchester United Thursday, 10 March 7:00 PM Basel v Sevilla Thursday, 10 March 9:05 PM AC Sparta Praha v S.S. Lazio IF you are a melita television subscriber on either M, L or XL you can watch the Europa league for FREE on channels 750& 751 Adam Johnson Florida football consultant pleads guilty in FIFA probe A Florida-based sports marketing consultant pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Tuesday as part of an in- vestigation of corruption in football and FIFA, its world governing body, saying he had schemed to bribe some officials in the sport. Miguel Trujillo, 65, pleaded guilty during a hearing in federal court in New York to four counts, including conspiracy to commit money-laun- dering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. "I know what I was doing was wrong," Trujillo said in court. Under an agreement with pros- ecutors, Trujillo pledged to forfeit $495,000. U.S. District Judge Ray- mond Dearie approved his release on a $1.5 million bond. Trujillo, who prosecutors said is a Colombian citizen and a U.S. le- gal permanent resident, is among 42 individuals and entities charged as part of a U.S. investigation of schemes involving more than $200 million in bribes and kickbacks sought by football officials for mar- keting and broadcast rights to tour- naments and matches. The investigation has sent Swit- zerland-based FIFA and other gov- erning bodies into an unprecedent- ed crisis. Gianni Infantino, FIFA's newly elected president, has vowed to lead the organisation out of years of scandal. In addition to consult- ing work, Trujillo was a "match agent" licensed by FIFA to negoti- ate and arrange football matches between national associations, prosecutors said in a news release. Starting in about 2008, Trujillo paid hundreds of thousands of dol- lars in bribes to high-ranking offi- cials of FIFA and other governing bodies, in connection with media and marketing contracts as well as international friendly matches, ac- cording to the news release. Appearing separately in the same court on Tuesday, Rafael Esquiv- el, another of the 42 defendants, pleaded not guilty to receiving bribes worth millions of dollars in connection with the sale of tourna- ment marketing rights. Esquivel, a former president of the Venezuelan national football federation and a former executive committee mem- ber of the South American foot- ball confederation CONMEBOL, was arrested in Zurich in May. He agreed to be extradited to the Unit- ed States last month. YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt