By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen...
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British American Tobacco negotiated bribe for Mugabe, new evidence suggests
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IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
image caption,Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for decades
A BBC Panorama investigation has found evidence that suggests one of Britain's biggest companies paid a bribe to the former Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe.
Documents show British American Tobacco (BAT) was involved in negotiations to pay between $300,000 and $500,000 to Mugabe's Zanu-PF party in 2013.
The documents also reveal BAT was paying bribes in South Africa and using illegal surveillance to damage rivals.
BAT says it is committed to the highest standards of corporate conduct.
President Mugabe's 37-year rule was secured through elections marred by allegations of fraud and violence.
He was ousted in 2017 and died in 2019. The ruling party Zanu PF is now under new leadership.
In a joint investigation with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the University of Bath, Panorama obtained thousands of leaked documents.
They show how BAT funded a network of almost 200 secret informants in southern Africa.
Watch BBC Panorama: Dirty Secrets of the Cigarette Business on BBC One on Monday at 19:30 BST
Most of this work was outsourced to a South African private security company called Forensic Security Services (FSS).
FSS was officially tasked with fighting the black-market cigarette trade, however former employees have told the BBC that they broke the law to sabotage BAT's rivals.
The Zimbabwe connection
Internal documents show in one operation, FSS staff were instructed to close down three cigarette factories run by BAT's competitors in Zimbabwe.
FSS paid a local firm to conduct surveillance on a Savanna Tobacco factory in 2012, but the company got caught.
Three of its directors were charged in connection with illegal surveillance. The arrests prompted the then president, Robert Mugabe, to make a speech condemning the men's actions and BAT's suspected involvement.
However, Panorama has found that behind the scenes, contractors working on behalf of BAT were talking to Zimbabwean officials.
The man who was sent in to negotiate a deal, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Panorama he bribed a number of government officials to secure a meeting to discuss the men's case.
He said: "I had to make it clear that they're going to expect a nice thick envelope of notes."
What is British American Tobacco?
British American Tobacco is one of the world's largest tobacco companies
It is one of the UK's ten biggest companies
It owns major cigarette brands including Lucky Strike and Pall Mall
Last year, it sold close to 650 billion cigarettes
Documents seen by the BBC confirm that the man was provided with the equivalent of US$12,000 in South African rand. They also suggest the money for the bribes was provided by BAT.
An internal memo outlines the deal that was proposed. The Zimbabwean official said that with the upcoming presidential elections, a donation to Mugabe's party - Zanu PF - would help.
The memo said: "With this donation, they could then go back to the President" to try to get the problem sorted out.
"The amount of the donation would have to be in the region of between USD300,000 to USD500,000 to Zanu PF," it said.
The documents do not show whether the bribe was in the end paid, but Panorama has spoken to three sources who have confirmed that BAT was aware of the terms of the deal on offer.
Within days of the deal being offered, all three directors were free.
BAT declined to answer Panorama's questions about the Zimbabwe payments, but it did not deny paying a bribe to Robert Mugabe.
It is against UK law for a British company to pay bribes, no matter where the payment takes place.
The wider network
FSS worked for BAT in southern Africa between 2000 and 2016.
Evidence strongly suggests they bribed customs officials and police officers, and that BAT secured access to information from the police camera network, which was used to spy on its rivals.
FSS tapped the phones of BAT's competitors, placed tracking devices on their delivery vehicles and bribed staff to hand over information.
Documents show senior staff from BAT's London HQ personally recruited and paid some of the informants working at competitors' factories.
BAT staff would also load cash onto currency cards in London and the informants could then withdraw the money anonymously in South Africa.
It is a payment system sometimes used by organised crime groups to evade detection.
media caption,British American Tobacco: I was a spy for cigarette giant, says whistleblower
BAT's lawyers said the allegations are not new and that it was not unlawful to pay sources to gather information about criminal behaviour.
They said the company rejects the allegation that any steps were taken with the aim of impacting the lawful activities of legitimate competitors or for commercial advantage.
BAT said: "We emphatically reject the mischaracterisation of our conduct... Our efforts in combating illicit trade have been aimed at helping law enforcement agencies in the fight against the criminal trade in tobacco products.
"Acting responsibly and with integrity underpins the foundations of our culture."
image caption,Ninety per cent of South African-grown tobacco is bought by BAT
The revelations prompted a five-year investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Earlier this year, it concluded there was not enough evidence for prosecution.
BAT says it fully cooperated with the SFO's investigation, which included allegations relating to South Africa and which resulted in no action being taken.
By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen...
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