Gordon, who is not one of the 289 agents in England represented by the AFA, estimates millions of pounds have been exchanged in corrupt deals.

The AFA said in a statement Gordon's claims were "reckless and inappropriate but also potentially defamatory".

"We will contact Mr Gordon to seek a retraction and apology," it added.

Gordon, who also represents Arsenal and England striker Theo Walcott, told the Wolverhampton Express & Star newspaper that English football is amongst the worst in Europe.

He said: "We're not talking about the �500,000 bungs, or the old brown paper envelope stuffed with a few notes.

I can't argue with the public seeing us as the scum of the earth Colin Gordon

"We're talking about millions upon millions. It is a very sophisticated business - it's cleverly disguised.

"If I buy a player from eastern Europe and find he is valued at �2m by his club I say 'I can sell him for �5m in England'.

"The club get �500,000 but the other �2.5m makes its way into a separate account.

"Since the Premiership began, I would estimate that tens of millions of pounds has gone out of the game this way.

"It's accepted abroad. We pretend we are holier than thou. But I've spoken to people over there and the English game is considered the 'dirty man of Europe'.

"We are the worst - and it shouldn't be accepted. I can't argue with the public seeing us as the scum of the earth."

The BBC's Panorama undercover documentary featured allegations of bungs being paid to managers and illegal approaches by clubs to players.

The Lord Stevens inquiry, launched by the Premier League, into alleged bung payments is due to report its initial findings next week.

The Premier League and Football Association have also launched a joint investigation into the claims made by the programme.

The AFA threw its support behind both investigations and said: "The Association is committed to ensuring that the integrity of football is preserved and has made it clear that corrupt practices by agents will not be tolerated."

Meanwhile, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has told the BBC there needs to be a thorough investigation into claims that bungs are rife in football.

I've been in this game all my life and I'm still waiting for someone to ask me a question Agent Colin Gordon

But Gordon believes the very underhand nature of bungs means the games law-makers will never truly get to grips with the problem because they do not know how it works or how widespread it is.

"Spare me those silly regulations from people who don't know what goes on," he said.

"It's time for a poacher to turn gamekeeper. Someone who knows how to regulate it because they know how and what goes on. Some of the people getting involved haven't got a clue.

"The administrators suddenly jumping on the bandwagon are laughable.

"The experts, the real experts, get ignored. I've been in this game all my life and I'm still waiting for someone to ask me a question. They might be scared by what they find out, mind.

"It is something you can't prove and it is a waste of time and energy trying to do it. The game does not want to embarrass itself by lifting up the carpet and showing what's been swept underneath.

"You will never catch a manager out talking directly about it. There will be a line that you detect in a conversation and you immediately know where it is heading.

"I've had that and pretended to be deaf and dumb for the next few minutes and talk about something else. It's never referred to again. But you know it's there.