Gordon Banks 'was poisoned by CIA to send England out of 1970 World Cup' claims extraordinary investigation

Gordon Banks was poisoned by CIA to send England out of 1970 World Cup as part of an audacious Cold War plot, an extraordinary investigation has claimed.

The legendary goalkeeper's mysterious bout of food poisoning just hours before the Three Lions faced West Germany in the quarter-finals has long drawn suspicions of foul play.

The absence of Banks significantly damaged England's chances, as they crashed out of the tournament in Mexico after losing 3-2 to the side they had defeated in the final at Wembley just four years earlier.

Peter Bonetti - who replaced Banks between the sticks for the crunch game - has faced blame for all three goals conceded in the heat of Leon.

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But a bombshell three-year investigation has examined whether Banks' illness was no accident - and was instead a part of a CIA plot to help eventual champions Brazil lift the trophy.

The topic had been discussed in late football journalist Brian Glanville's 2007 book "England Managers: The Toughest Job In Football", with the author writing that he had "steadily come to believe that Banks was the victim of sabotage".

Mr Glanville claimed he had been informed by another football writer, Bob Oxby, that his cousin - American senator Stuart Symington - told him Banks' food poisoning was the work of the CIA.

"You don't think we were going to let England beat Brazil, do you?" Mr Symington allegedly told the famous author.

The US under President Lyndon Johnson had actively supported and facilitated the 1964 Brazilian coup d'etat - installing a military dictatorship in hopes of preventing the country from falling to a communist takeover.

But when the tournament kicked off, support for the regime had been waning and it was believed that winning the World Cup would help rally the people of Brazil around their Government.

Gabriel Gatehouse, the former international editor of BBC Newsnight who launched the fresh investigation, spoke to Mr Glanville about the claim shortly before his death.

Mr Gatehouse wrote in The Observer: "All he would say was that Oxby was a reliable reporter, and that Symington had told him it was 'part of a plan'."

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He added that at the time of the tournament, Mr Symington was involved with the armed services committee - to which the CIA delivered regular briefs.

Additionally, the investigation also uncovered a document from the US intelligence agency's archives in 1971 with highlighted that Brazilian President General Emilio Garrastazu Medici had "skilfully managed to associate himself" with the success in Mexico.

Mr Gatehouse said that although none of his intelligence sources were aware of any audacious plot to sabotage England, a CIA biologist had informed the Senate in the 1970s that the US were capable of deploying "substances that can give you a real severe case of the 'tummies'."

And now, speaking to GB News, Mr Banks' grandson Ed Jervis revealed the legendary goalkeeper had thought that "something dodgy went on" in Mexico.

Mr Jervis told the People's Channel: "He mentioned a bottle of beer in his autobiography and sort of said that he couldn't remember whether it was handed to him with a lid on or off.

"His memory was a bit fuzzy, but I think just the more he thought about it over the over the years, the more he thought, it just seemed so odd that I got so ill and nobody else did."

He added: "The level of regulation around the England team, what they were allowed to eat, what they were allowed to drink, it was incredibly strict, you know, even as prescriptive as no ice in your drink and all that sort of stuff.

"All the meals were all cooked for them by their own chef that was flown in their own food... My granddad thought it was really suspicious that it was just him that just him that got ill."

GB News has approached the CIA for comment.

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