Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is taking legal advice following allegations he asked for £55,000 to work for a sports company that proposed selling players to QPR.
The Rangers manager is considering legal action, while the club say they need to see the full video and unedited transcript of a meeting involving Hasselbaink, which was secretly filmed as part of an investigation by the Daily Telegraph into alleged corruption in football.
Hasselbaink told Sky Sports News HQ on Friday that he would never accept money in return for signing players and was “naive” to attend the meeting.
Hasselbaink also insisted he would have walked away from the discussion had it been suggested he would have been paid in return for signing players.
“I would have walked out of there because I know that would get me in deep trouble,” he said.
Rangers say they need to see unedited video footage of the meeting Hasselbaink had with an undercover reporter before the club conclude an internal investigation they say they are holding.
As part of the Telegraph investigation, which this week led to Sam Allardyce losing his job as England boss, the newspaper reported that Hasselbaink held two meetings with an undercover reporter.
Asked in the Sky interview if he regretted attending the meeting, Hasselbaink said: “Big time. You know you reflect, you think back and you criticise yourself and you must say, that I have been naive. I have been naive.
“But then with everything with it, I have never asked for money for myself to take a player or to bring a player to the club. I would never do that.
“That is the painful thing about it. The painful thing about it is that I take my job very serious. Very, very, very serious and I want to succeed in this business.
“I can’t speak for others, I can only speak for me and this, taking money, is not what I stand for. It is not what I stand for, I have never done it and I would never do it just to get a player to the club so I can benefit from that. No.”
Hasselbaink insists a potential payment was discussed on the understanding it merely involved making a speech in Singapore.
He said: “I understand for the English public, or whatever public, that £55,000 is a lot of money. And it is a lot of money. But in the industry that I am in I am fortunate that I can make those kinds of figures.
“I was negotiating to go Singapore for a speech. That’s it. That’s it. No favouritism, no strings attached. I would not put myself in that position.”
QPR say Hasselbaink has been interviewed by director of football Les Ferdinand and chief executive Lee Hoos.
Hoos has also addressed players and staff to explain the club’s position.
In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, Hasselbaink maintained he had done nothing wrong.
“They offered me a fee to make a speech in Singapore. I do not see anything unusual in being offered to be paid to make a speech,” he said.
“I did not make any promises in return. I did not ask QPR to purchase any of the players who were said to be managed by them and did not and would not recommend the purchase of a player for my personal gain.
“I deny any accusations of wrongdoing on my part.”
This post was last modified on 01/10/2016