Match Fixing - Arrests Made

[Twobob]

Surprised I havent seen this posted yet so forgive m if it has a d I missed it. One ex-Bolton player, now agent, named.

Interesting is the way they indicated the 'fix' was on - by getting a yellow card in the first few mins.


Posted below (on the app so not pretty) taken from the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25132538

Arrests over football 'match fixing'
Last updated 50 minutes ago


Ex-Premier League striker Delroy Facey is thought to be one of the suspects
Six men have been arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency investigating alleged match fixing in English football.

At least three footballers are reported to be among those held across the country, but the BBC understands that none is linked to professional clubs.

Sources have said the suspects include ex-Premier League player Delroy Facey.

The NCA said the focus of the operation was a suspected international illegal betting syndicate.

It is thought the suspects are being held by police in the Midlands.

The NCA was launched this year to fight organised and serious crime.

It said it was working closely with the Gambling Commission and the Football Association.

A spokesman said: "This is an active investigation and we are unable to provide further detail at this time."

Newspaper probe
The FA said it has been made aware of the arrests.

In a statement, it said: "We have worked closely with the authorities in relation to these allegations. The FA will make no further comment at this time due to ongoing investigations."

"The Gambling Commission said it had provided advice, intelligence and expertise in supporting the investigation and continues to liaise with the NCA and FA."

The Crown Prosecution Service said it had liaised with the NCA during its investigation.

The arrests come after an undercover investigation by the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

It carries claims that a betting syndicate fixer from Singapore discussed the possibility of influencing the scores and outcomes of lower-league English games for £50,000 at a meeting in Manchester.

Police in Singapore told the BBC they have not been involved in the arrests.

According to the paper, the fixer claimed potential gamblers would make hundreds of thousands of pounds by using the inside information through bets placed on Asian-based websites.

He reportedly offered to target two football matches, saying he would tell players how many goals he needed to be scored.

He can be heard in a video claiming that he would pay a player £5,000 to take a yellow card at the start of a match as a signal that the result was likely to be fixed.

The Telegraph later reported that the man also said he could pay referees £20,000 to fix matches across Europe - although he did not specify whether that included Britain.

'Globalised sports corruption'
Sources have told the BBC that former Bolton Wanderers striker turned football agent, Delroy Facey, 33, was one of the six arrested.

He made 14 appearances for the then-Premier League Bolton between 2002-2004, before moving down the leagues, ending last season with Hereford United, who were relegated from the football league.

The Football League said it had not been contacted by police about the investigation.

Football League chief executive Shaun Harvey said: "The threat of corruption is something that the Football League and the other football authorities treat with the utmost seriousness.

"The integrity of our matches and our competitions is the bedrock of the domestic game."

Journalist Declan Hill, author of the Insiders' Guide to Match Fixing, has been investigating the subject for years and says the way the crime is carried out has changed recently.

"We've now got a globalised sports corruption, where people are fixing the gambling markets in Asia and they're coming to European countries and then making very dubious deals with dodgy players and referees, and they literally have established networks of corruption right around the world," he said.

Soren Kragh Pedersen, from the European Union policy agency Europol, said the news was not unexpected.

"This is not a surprise because when we look around Europe it is practically everywhere and in some of the major leagues but, of course, also the minor divisions. We see it everywhere so it would be a surprise if you did not find it in England also," he said.

[Breks]

This will be the tip of the iceberg

[Mikhail Chigorin]

I wonder if Fergiescum has anything to be worried about ??

[Twobob]

I wonder if Fergiescum has anything to be worried about ??

Or even Alardices lad who was investigated as part of the agent fees thing?

Its correct that this will open a pandoras box, maybe Rosie the dog has been busy? ;-)

Seems to have been lower league teams though so hopefully it isn't any PL club which could throw doubt on the rest, heard on the news that one ref has also been taken in.

[Im_Spartacus]

Or even Alardices lad who was investigated as part of the agent fees thing?

Its correct that this will open a pandoras box, maybe Rosie the dog has been busy? ;-)

Seems to have been lower league teams though so hopefully it isn't any PL club which could throw doubt on the rest, heard on the news that one ref has also been taken in.

Thing that makes me wonder is the bookies role in all this. If large sums started moving onto lower league teams in play, and bookies were consistently being done, why the fuck has it taken so long to spot the betting patterns?

Any large sum on any small team should be suspicious full stop

[Nigels Tackle]

Or even Alardices lad who was investigated as part of the agent fees thing?

Its correct that this will open a pandoras box, maybe Rosie the dog has been busy? ;-)

Seems to have been lower league teams though so hopefully it isn't any PL club which could throw doubt on the rest, heard on the news that one ref has also been taken in.

Thing that makes me wonder is the bookies role in all this. If large sums started moving onto lower league teams in play, and bookies were consistently being done, why the fuck has it taken so long to spot the betting patterns?

Any large sum on any small team should be suspicious full stop

the bets aren't being laid in the uk
it's se asia, mainly singapore, where all the bets (are illegally) placed

[Tesl]

I think corruption is massive in general sport and also in football, but probably not big in the premier league just because it would be too expensive to do so. Players have no incentive to risk their careers and reputation on what would be effectively pennies to most of them.

Some referees make you wonder though. I think there *probably* isn't any corruption amongst them, but it wouldn't come as a massive shock if something was found for one or two of them.

[Wonderwall]

I think corruption is massive in general sport and also in football, but probably not big in the premier league just because it would be too expensive to do so. Players have no incentive to risk their careers and reputation on what would be effectively pennies to most of them.

Some referees make you wonder though. I think there *probably* isn't any corruption amongst them, but it wouldn't come as a massive shock if something was found for one or two of them.

If you are leading a corrupt business venture which involves fixing of certain things in sport, you would immediately look at the weak and vulnerable areas. The players falling on bad times are one (Etherington for example as he was in a bad way and in debt to gambling, just like Keith Gillespie was). These type of players are the ones that would risk it to get themselves out of trouble and back into the black. Another would be poorly paid individuals, when I say poorly paid I mean in the grand scheme of things (referees). Especially where they are very high profile individuals in the game and are selected to referee across the world. I was told that a Premier league referee can expect to Gross around 60k a year, thats not a lot of money for the level of responsibility they have. IMO a referee could very easily fix a match without being noticed, pretty much the same as a cricket umpire, but there isnt the same money involved in that and the frequency of available games to fix is not the same.

Imagine a Ref on 60k a year being offers 100k to ensure a match goes one way, he could get 2 years wages (net) in one game. Anyone would be tempted by such sums in that situation.

[Tesl]

I think corruption is massive in general sport and also in football, but probably not big in the premier league just because it would be too expensive to do so. Players have no incentive to risk their careers and reputation on what would be effectively pennies to most of them.

Some referees make you wonder though. I think there *probably* isn't any corruption amongst them, but it wouldn't come as a massive shock if something was found for one or two of them.

If you are leading a corrupt business venture which involves fixing of certain things in sport, you would immediately look at the weak and vulnerable areas. The players falling on bad times are one (Etherington for example as he was in a bad way and in debt to gambling, just like Keith Gillespie was). These type of players are the ones that would risk it to get themselves out of trouble and back into the black. Another would be poorly paid individuals, when I say poorly paid I mean in the grand scheme of things (referees). Especially where they are very high profile individuals in the game and are selected to referee across the world. I was told that a Premier league referee can expect to Gross around 60k a year, thats not a lot of money for the level of responsibility they have. IMO a referee could very easily fix a match without being noticed, pretty much the same as a cricket umpire, but there isnt the same money involved in that and the frequency of available games to fix is not the same.

Imagine a Ref on 60k a year being offers 100k to ensure a match goes one way, he could get 2 years wages (net) in one game. Anyone would be tempted by such sums in that situation.

I agree completely.

[Im_Spartacus]

the bets aren't being laid in the uk
it's se asia, mainly singapore, where all the bets (are illegally) placed

It doesn't matter where they are being placed, the bookies must be fucking thick to accept them

[Breks]

Anyone know which bookies? I'm skint I could do with a nice win.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

Anyone know which bookies? I'm skint I could do with a nice win.

If you want a caste-iron, guaranteed, 100% certain way of making money, sell your house, sell your car (you could even sell your lady wife if you're of a mind to do so), go to every Bank in town and borrow up to the hilt from each of them and then put all these accumulated funds on Italy to win the 2014 World Cup.

Guaranteed....Simples.

[Rag_hater]

From what I know, this thing has been going on for years, so to me, until the moment when it's your own team it seems like it is an issue that nobody gives a sod about. And, if it's something as common as an event that is happening twice a week that hardly points to a situation that our game is so damaged.

[nottsblue]

Most on field corruption is likely to be referees. An individual player has less scope to throw things unless
1: its the goalie
2: numerous players are in on it
3: bets are placed according to yellow/red cards.

I dont believe numerous players would be in on it as it were as leaks would happen. Large money bet on cards would arouse suspicion. Goalies have been nobbled before and are the easiest target. Some of Joes howlers have aroused suspicion on here before.
This leaves refs. How many decisions are wrongly made week in week out? Blatant ones as well that have people scratching their heads at how it was given/not given. As posted earlier their salaries,though large by the average fans standard, are low enough to be tempted by the alledged sums on offer.
Also bribery doesnt have to be from betting syndicates. Surely the swamp dwellers have nobbled refs before. Plenty of instances of clubs bribing refs has come to light, especially in Italy. This i suspect is where true corruption lies, the hands of club chairmen

[ashton287]

Most on field corruption is likely to be referees. An individual player has less scope to throw things unless 1: its the goalie 2: numerous players are in on it 3: bets are placed according to yellow/red cards. I dont believe numerous players would be in on it as it were as leaks would happen. Large money bet on cards would arouse suspicion. Goalies have been nobbled before and are the easiest target. Some of Joes howlers have aroused suspicion on here before. This leaves refs. How many decisions are wrongly made week in week out? Blatant ones as well that have people scratching their heads at how it was given/not given. As posted earlier their salaries,though large by the average fans standard, are low enough to be tempted by the alledged sums on offer. Also bribery doesnt have to be from betting syndicates. Surely the swamp dwellers have nobbled refs before. Plenty of instances of clubs bribing refs has come to light, especially in Italy. This i suspect is where true corruption lies, the hands of club chairmen

Joey Barton red card, we win the league from 2-1 down. Big impact. Shortly after he is shipped out the country never to be heard from again. The premier league gets its most dramatic finish in 20 years and a sound bite for a few hundred thousand new paying customers. Then again Barton is a knob with a whole history of dick moves.

It is happening and everyone is fucking in on it. The refs. FA. Managers and if a proper investigation is ever done we probably won't come out of it smelling of roses but they are focussing on the championship. This whole "operation" is a farce and they will make scapegoats of the lower leagues to show that it can't go on in England while the corruption in the prem is written off as "it evens itself out over the season".

[Goaters 103]

DJ Campbell arrested now Hes spent the past few years playing in the top 2 divisions so this investigation is going higher up the pole.

[Hutch's Shoulder]

More arrests today - D J Campbell at Blackburn

[Wonderwall]

More arrests today - D J Campbell at Blackburn

damn, just before we play them too

[BlueinBosnia]

the bets aren't being laid in the uk
it's se asia, mainly singapore, where all the bets (are illegally) placed

It doesn't matter where they are being placed, the bookies must be fucking thick to accept them

The bookies are in on it, and use it as a way to siphon money from their companies into their own pockets. It's the insurers that get done.

[Alioune DVToure]

More arrests today - D J Campbell at Blackburn

Nobody can be expected to live off eight grand a week.

If true, what an utter twat.