Bremen, Germany - Werder Bremen club chairman Juergen L. Born resigned Friday after new allegations of payments from a Peruvian player agency.

Born issued a statement from South America via the club saying he was resigning with immediate effect but denying any financial impropriety.

Werder have begun an investigation into a new allegation that payments were made to the club chairman's son in connection with former striker Nelson Valdez's contract extension six years ago.

Sports director Klaus Allofs said an independent firm of accountants will examine Peruvian media reports that money was paid by an agent to Born's son, Maximilian.

Born, 68, had earlier this week temporarily stepped down from all offices at the club after allegations that he had received money from the 2001 transfer of Peruvian striker Roberto Silva from Sporting Cristal Lima for 1.35 million dollars.

Born, who was also in charge of finance and public relations at the club, earlier this week had denied receiving any payments but said he was forgoing his duties "until the final clarification of the matter."

Allegations of payments had surfaced in connection with a Peruvian investigation into alleged tax evasion and money laundering involving the player agent Carlos Delgado, who is also adviser to the club's Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro.

Pizarro has himself denied acting as a player's agent or being involved in Delgado's agency.

Born said in his statement that he was bringing forward plans to step down at the end of the year in view of the fact that reports had again linked him to financial transactions from the Peruvian firm Image.

"I am given up my offices with immediate effect. However I can give an assurance that I obtained no illegal financial advantages at the cost of Werder Bremen," he said.

Willi Lemke, chairman of the club's supervisory board, said Born had made the "logical decision" and that the club was going ahead with an investigation from a firm of accountants.

"We are committed in the interests of Werder Bremen to create the necessary transparency in this matter," he said.

Earlier this week, sports director Klaus Allofs said no decision would be made on retaining Pizarro until the outcome of the Peruvian investigation.

Pizarro, 30, is on loan from Chelsea, but Werder would like to make the signing a permanent one.

"From a sporting and personal point of view we would like to keep Claudio but we have to await the outcome of the investigation in Peru because we cannot put ourselves outside the law," Allofs told the local Kreiszeitung Syke newspaper. (dpa)