Probe into betting fix claim

Published on 12/07/2012 02:26

FIFA’s chief investigator in England will look into claims by former Southampton skipper Claus Lundekvam that he, team-mates and opposing captains were involved in betting fraud.

In an interview in a Norwegian newspaper, Lundekvam said the players manipulated incidents such as the first throw-in for betting purposes.

The world governing body Fifa announced it will investigate the claims.

A statement said: “Fifa is monitoring this issue and involved its chief investigator in England. Once all information is known it will be decided who is leading the investigations.”

Lundekvam claimed the spot-fixing took place in Premier League matches in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

He told Norwegian TV station NRK: “It’s not something I’m proud of. For a while we did this almost every week. We made a fair bit of money. We could make deals with the opposing captain about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a penalty. Those were the sorts of thing we had influence over.”

Lundekvam insisted he and his fellow players never rigged the result of a match. He said: “The results were never on the agenda. That is something I would never have done. We were professional competitors. Even though what we did, of course, was illegal, it was just a fun thing.”