Rune Hauge is a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 agent

Sports agent

A sports agent procures and negotiates employment and endorsement contracts for an athlete.In return, the sports agent generally receives between 4 and 10% of the athlete's playing contract, and 10 to 20% of the athlete's endorsement contract, though these figures vary...

.

In English football

Football in England

Association football is a national sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game...

, Hauge is best known as the agent who represented John Jensen

John Jensen

John Jensen , nicknamed Faxe, is a former Danish international footballer who is unemployed. He is known for his temper and is often outspoken in interviews. His playing career lasted over a decade, during which he played most famously for Arsenal F.C...

 and Pål Lydersen

Pål Lydersen

Pål Lydersen is a Norwegian former football player.A full back, Lydersen played for I.K. Start, until he was signed by English club Arsenal in 1991...

 during their transfers to Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 in the early 1990s. This would lead to Arsenal manager George Graham

George Graham (footballer)

George Graham is a Scottish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success at Arsenal, as a player in the 1970s and then as manager from 1986 until 1995.-Early life:...

 becoming embroiled in allegations that Hauge paid him a £425,000 "bung" to sign the players. Graham was later found guilty by the Football Association

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

 after admitting receiving an "unsolicited gift" and was suspended for a year. Before this, Hauge was involved in the signings of two key Manchester United players: Andrei Kanchelskis

Andrei Kanchelskis

Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis is a Ukrainian-born Russian football manager and former association footballer who played as a right winger. Kanchelskis is the only player in history to have scored in each of the Glasgow, Merseyside and Manchester local derbies.Currently, he is managing FC...

 and Peter Schmeichel

Peter Schmeichel

Peter Bolesław Schmeichel MBE is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the "World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1992 and 1993...

.

Hauge was banned from operating as an agent for life by FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 in 1995 http://www.fifa.com/fifa/pub/newsletter/fifanews.12_95.html#8.00, but this was later reduced to two years' suspension of his licence http://www.fifa.com/fifa/pub/newsletter/fifanews.3-96.html. After he regained his licence, he went on to represent several Norwegian players including Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Ole Gunnar Solskjær is the manager of Norwegian first division side Molde. He is better known as a former footballer who spent most of his career playing for Manchester United. Often dubbed "the baby-faced assassin," he played 366 times for the Red Devils and scored 126 goals during a very...

, Steffen Iversen

Steffen Iversen

Steffen Iversen is a Norwegian football player who currently plays for Crystal Palace. He has earned four Norwegian league championships with Rosenborg and one with Vålerenga....

 and Eirik Bakke

Eirik Bakke

Eirik Bakke is a Norwegian football player. He plays on the right-hand side or centre of midfield. He currently plays for Sogndal.-Sogndal :Bakke played 99 matches for Sogndal...

. He was also involved in the transfer of Rio Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand

Rio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...

 from West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

 to Leeds United http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/leeds/article111801.ece.

In 2005, he was involved in the transfer dispute between Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 and Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 over John Obi Mikel, claiming (along with others) that he had the right to represent the Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

n youth.

Hauge's current clients include Blackburn's Norwegian midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen

Morten Gamst Pedersen

Morten Gamst Pedersen is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers and the Norway national football team.-Tromsø IL:...

.

External links

• Three Cups and a Brown Paper Bag - account of the Graham scandal
• The Very Strange Transfer Saga of John Obi Mikel