Two men with Singaporean nationality suspected of fixing matches in lower-league English soccer were to appear before magistrates yesterday, a day after they were charged with conspiracy to defraud, prosecutors said.
The men, alleged to be members of a Singapore-based illegal betting syndicate, were among six people arrested this week in an investigation by the recently formed National Crime Agency (NCA).
Chann Sankaran, a 33-year-old Singapore national, and Krishna Sanjey Ganeshan, a 43-year-old with dual British and Singapore nationality, will appear in court in Cannock, England.
A seventh man has been arrested and he and the four other men were bailed on Thursday, the NCA said in a statement.
Sankaran and Ganeshan have been accused of conspiring to defraud bookmakers by influencing the course of soccer matches and placing bets on them between Nov. 1 and Tuesday.
The maximum sentence for the offense is 10 years’ imprisonment.
The NCA added that their investigation was ongoing.
Earlier, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said an undercover investigation by its reporters had triggered the probe by the NCA, Britain’s answer to the FBI.
No teams in England’s lucrative Premier League are believed to be involved in the probe.
A spokesman for the Football Association (FA), the sport’s governing body in England, 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 Football League, which runs the three professional divisions below the Premier League, said they had not been contacted by the police.
“The threat of corruption is something that the Football League and the other football authorities treat with the utmost seriousness,” chief executive Shaun Harvey said. “The integrity of our matches and our competitions is the bedrock of the domestic game.”
Meanwhile, a notorious Singaporean soccer match-fixer denied any links to the alleged plot in England after a suspect named him as his “boss,” a report said yesterday.
Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted fixer who is under police protection in Hungary, told Singapore’s New Paper that he played no part in the scam — although he admitted he had full knowledge of it.
In the videotaped Daily Telegraph sting, a Singaporean suspect says he is working for Perumal.
However, Perumal, a self-confessed archfixer who says he used to collaborate with alleged Singaporean mastermind Dan Tan, insisted he was not involved.
“He [the suspect] was acting on his own. He was set up,” he told the New Paper via e-mail.
“I told him to be very careful, this may be a set-up,” Perumal wrote, adding that the suspect was “keeping me posted on what he was doing even though I never asked for it.”
Perumal was jailed for match-fixing in Finland in 2011 and is the reputed whistle-blower who has helped European police uncover hundreds of rigged games.
His fixing career, which started in Singapore in the 1990s, extended to arranging international friendlies — once with a bogus team — and rigging the results.
In the Daily Telegraph video, the Singaporean suspect calls him the “king” of match-fixing.
“You go to the Net... you search Wilson Raj Perumal ... kelong [match-fixing] king,” the alleged fixer says. “He’s my boss. Everybody in the world knows him.”
Reports earlier this year also linked Perumal with a multimillion-dollar scandal in Australian state soccer.
In September, Singaporean authorities arrested four alleged members of a global match-fixing syndicate under a special law allowing indefinite detention without charge.
A source said that businessman Dan Tan, whose full name is Tan Seet Eng, was one of those held in the crackdown.
In February, European police agency Europol said it had found evidence of match-fixing in top international soccer matches and it had uncovered an organized crime syndicate based in Asia that was behind the operation.
The biggest case of fixing in sport in Britain in recent years involved three Pakistan cricketers and a British agent who were jailed in 2011 for spot-fixing during a Test match against hosts England.
The four men were involved in pre-arranging no-balls during the internationals for shadowy South Asian betting rings.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely