Six arrested in England for fixing football matches

[GrandMasterSaxy]

LONDON: English football was left shell shocked on Thursday after Britain's National Crime Agency made its first ever arrests around match fixing of Premiere League matches. NCA has confirmed that six men have been arrested across the country as part of their investigation into football match fixing. Three current footballers and a former Premier League player were among those detained on suspicion of fixing games in England. The Agency said the focus of the operation is a suspected international illegal betting syndicate. NCA said in a statement "The NCA is working closely with the Gambling Commission and the Football Association. This is an active investigation and we are unable to provide further detail at this time". The men were held after a recent sting operation saw a bookie brag about how easily football matches in UK could be fixed at as low as £50,000. The secret taping of a conversation in Manchester saw a fixer from Singapore claiming how there was a fortune to be made if matches could be fixed in UK with help of companies in Asia. The bookie went ahead to correctly forecast outcome of three games played by a particular team at lower league matches. The agent infact admitted he was targeting two other matches in November. The recording shows the agent explaining his ways "In England the cost is very high, usually for the players it is £70,000. It is simple, I commit myself and they commit". He then further bragged that "For example, within the first 10 minutes, I will ask them to take one yellow card. So, one yellow card is about £5,000". He said pointing to the club listed on a gambling website on his mobile phone "This is my team. I know what they're going to do". The bookie also said he was connected to Wilson Raj Perumal, who has been convicted of rigging football matches abroad. "Wilson Raj Perumal, he is the king, he's my boss," the fixer said. The Football Association said it was working closely with the authorities in relation to these arrests. Recent years have seen a massive increase in match fixing, with a scandal recently breaking out in European football, fuelled by Asian betting syndicates. In February, Europol said it was probing 380 suspicious matches. Matches were said to include Champions League ties and World Cup qualifiers. The major investigation involving Europol and police teams from 13 European countries had uncovered an extensive criminal network. A total of 425 match officials, club officials, players and serious criminals, from more than 15 countries, are suspected of being involved in attempts to fix more than 380 professional football matches. The activities generated over 8 million in betting profits and involved over 2 million in corrupt payments to those involved in the matches. It also arrested who they claimed was the brain behind the massive match fixing scandal in European football. A raid in Singapore by Interpol resulted in the arrest of 14 people who were suspected to be part of an organized crime group involved in match-fixing. Operation Soga (short for soccer gambling) is an on-going tactical operation coordinated by INTERPOL to disrupt the illegal soccer gambling activities of criminal organizations in Asia. As of 2013, four Soga operations have resulted in 2,360 successful raids. The closure of illegal gambling dens which handled illegal bets worth more than $ 2 billion resulted in seizure of more than $ 27 million in cash. The European Commission recently went on record to admit that match-fixing and corruption pose the greatest threats to European sport today. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/epl/top-stories/Six-arrested-in-England-for-fixing-football-matches/articleshow/26531958.cms

[Sidhoni]

A total of 425 match officials, club officials, players and serious criminals, from more than 15 countries, are suspected of being involved in attempts to fix more than 380 professional football matches.