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FA to investigate report that player took £50,000 bribe

The Football Association is investigating reports that a soccer star with a gambling addiction accepted a £50,000 (US$99,000) bribe from a bookmaker to throw a game.

The identity of the player, believed to be from outside the Premier League, has not been revealed.

But the Independent newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, said he wound up £50,000 in debt to the bookmaker who offered to write it off if the player were to get sent off in a specific game and persuade three teammates to get yellow cards in a game his team lost.

The player agreed, the incidents were fixed and his team lost the game.

"We will be making inquiries about the story," FA spokesman Andrin Cooper said on Friday. "First we need to find out if the match was inside our jurisdiction. The story says it was in Britain, but we don't know if it was in England."

The allegation was revealed at a seminar on the threat of gambling in sports. Among those attending were former players who were addicted to gambling.

Arsenal's Arsene Wenger says the player should be named.

"He has to come out really with it because I don't think it is fair," Wenger said. "If there is a confidentiality problem, then he [Sporting Chance Clinic] shuts his mouth completely. I believe it throws suspicion into our sport that is unfair unless you name the guy."
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