One of the first rules of espionage, as I’ve gleaned from extensive exhibitions on my sofa, is that you never give up the con, not even after you’ve seemingly been caught cold behind enemy lines.
But foreign counterintelligence staff would have little trouble in ‘flipping’ the Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa were he ever to find himself in that situation, you’d think.
The Argentine has assumed responsibility for an extraordinary incident from yesterday morning when one of his ‘footballing staff’ was caught ‘acting suspiciously’ outside the Derby County ground ahead of their crucial Championship clash tonight.
Speaking to Sky Sports before the game, he was singing like a canary: "It's true, I am responsible for sending the person there. It doesn't matter if I think it's legal/illegal, right/wrong - the fact Derby County felt that I have done something wrong is enough for me to realise I have."
"I am the only person responsible for this, I did not ask permission from the club. I have been doing it since the World Cup qualifiers with Argentina.
"It's not illegal, we've done it publicly: some people question it, others don't."
The Derbyshire Constabulary, the force that was called out to deal with the skulking figure, certainly questioned it.
They tweeted to to confirm that they’d been called to investigate the incident and had dealt with it. “Keeping the team safe to bring home a win against #LUFC,” their post read.
Their input ended with the hashtag ‘SpyingIsCheating’. So, while it may not be illegal, it seems that the police take a dim on this sort of carry on.
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