The Hindu : Sport : FA to investigate bribery claims

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FA to investigate bribery claims

LONDON: The English Football Association (FA) said on Friday that it will investigate allegations that a former Premier League player accepted a 50,000 pounds ($100,000) bribe to help throw a game.

The player, who has not been named, got himself sent off and also persuaded three team mates to get booked in a match played somewhere in Britain in the last two years, The Independent newspaper said on Friday.

In exchange, a bookmaker allegedly agreed to write off the 50,000 pounds debt the player had racked up. An FA spokesman told Reuters: “We will be starting inquiries about the story immediately and the first thing we need to establish is if the match was played in England or not. The story says Britain, but we don’t know if it was in England.

“There are very clear rules on betting which state players must not gamble on competitions they are taking part in and any threat to the integrity of our competitions is taken very seriously.”

The case came to light at a seminar on gambling at the Sporting Chance Clinic, held in Hampshire, southern England, earlier this week.

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