April 4 – The spot-fixing scandal that rocked English football at the back end of last year has escalated with the revelation that seven more professional players, all from the north of the country, have been arrested taking the number suspected to 13.
In addition to the seven new arrests, six players held in December under suspicion of conspiracy to commit acts of bribery and money laundering have been re-arrested.
At the end of 2013, undercover investigators exposed some of the original six suspects. In video footage, the alleged players were seen talking about how they would go about spot-fixing. Reports showed ex-Portsmouth player Sam Sodje allegedly claiming to be able to rig Premier League matches.
Spot-fixing, as distinct from match-fixing, is where a player agrees to influence a specific aspect of a match rather than trying to fix the actual score.
“Officers from the National Crime Agency have been actively pursuing a number of lines of inquiry in this ongoing investigation,” an NCA statement said. “The NCA has today re-arrested the six original suspects based upon new evidence, along with a further seven footballers aged between 18 and 30 suspected of potential involvement in these offences.
“The seven men arrested in addition to the original six are from Football League clubs based in the North West of England. All 13 individuals are being interviewed at police stations across the country.”
In December third tier club Oldham Athletic sacked winger Cristian Montano following the investigation which alleged he had lost punters serious money after failing to get a yellow-card when requested. Former Premier League striker DJ Campbell has been confirmed as another of the original six arrested.
In a brief statement, the Football Association said: “The FA has been made aware of developments in relation to an ongoing NCA (National Crime Agency) investigation, including a number of further arrests. We are liaising with the authorities in relation to these allegations. The FA will make no further comment at this time.”
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