Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy said yesterday he's heard "scuttlebutt" that the award of a license for Pittsburgh's slot machine casino is being decided behind the scenes.

"It is no secret ... that supposedly, the fix is in," Mr. Murphy remarked during a panel discussion at the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania.

In a subsequent interview, Mr. Murphy said he feared that politics was influencing the selection process, and indicated that he believes Forest City Enterprises, owner of Station Square and one of five entities competing for the slots license, had a political advantage in the competition.

A spokesman for the state Gaming Control Board, which will award the license, noted that the board has not yet begun accepting applications, and said that all applicants would get full consideration.

At the panel event, Mr. Murphy prefaced his remark about a "fix" by chiding the news media for not being aggressive in its coverage of the slots issue. But he refused to elaborate when pressed by another panelist to identify who the license had been "fixed" for.

"And get sued ... right," Mr. Murphy said.

Mr. Murphy privately has said similar things about the licensing process to reporters in the past, but has offered no concrete evidence.

In an interview after the Press Club remarks, Mr. Murphy said he was "very concerned" about the possibility that politics was influencing the selection process.

"I can't tell you how important I think it is to have transparency on this issue," he said.

Asked whether one location had a political advantage over others, Mr. Murphy replied, "That's the scuttlebutt. ... Whether that's the case or not remains to be seen."

Asked whether Station Square was the location with the advantage, Mr. Murphy responded, "Right." He did not elaborate.

The Pittsburgh license and 13 others throughout the state will be awarded by the Gaming Control Board, a seven-member panel appointed by state legislative leaders and Gov. Ed Rendell. Each of the leaders had one appointment and the governor had three.

As the system is set up, all appointees of legislative leaders and at least one of the governor's must agree on a license for it to be awarded. The board will begin accepting applications for stand-alone casinos in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and other parts of the state Tuesday.

In response to Mr. Murphy's comments, gaming board spokesman Nick Hays said, "The Gaming Control Board has not begun to accept applications for the Category 2 licenses, but when it does it will give full consideration to all of the applications and make its decision based on the best interests of the commonwealth."

Kate Philips, spokeswoman for Mr. Rendell, said the governor "has neither a role nor any influence over where slot licenses go."

"Any implication that he is involved in some sort of fix is incredible and absolutely untrue," she said. "We know of no fix."

Al Ratner, board co-chairman of Forest City Enterprises, said he had no comment.

Forest City is expected to compete against the Penguins, Alco Parking Corp. President Merrill Stabile, MTR Gaming which owns Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in Chester, W.Va., and Beaver County developer Charles Betters for the license.

All have contributed to the campaigns of key state and local politicians to various degrees over the past four years, though the Penguins' donations have been minimal. Members of the Ratner family have contributed the most, donating $264,942 to campaigns and committees, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette analysis.

Mr. Rendell has received $147,688 from the Ratners, but all but $4,500 of it came in 2002 during his campaign for governor. This year, they also gave $10,000 to state House Speaker John Perzel and $29,000 to city mayoral candidate Bob O'Connor, who has no role in the licensing process.

Spokespersons for the recipients have said the contributions would not have any influence in the decision-making over slots. Ms. Philips said it is no surprise Mr. Rendell received election support from those interested in gambling because he was a pro-gambling candidate.

She added the donations, a small percentage of the $40 million he raised during his campaign, would have no effect since Mr. Rendell has no role in awarding the license.