 |
|
 |
|
 Main Menu |
|
| News
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Current |
|
|
|
| GGG | |
 |
|
 |
 |
| | Home | | Index | | Info | | This Week | | Poker | | News |
 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
 |
|||||
| Sachin
Nakrani The investigation into match-fixing surrounding Norwich City and Derby County's league meeting at Carrow Road earlier this month has reached an impasse after the Asian gambling markets which allegedly saw suspicious betting trends on the fixture declined to assist the Football Association with its inquiries. Last night the two teams met again in the Championship, Derby completing a league double with a 3-1 victory. SBOBET and IBCBET, both of which are based in Singapore, were asked by the FA to pass on to it all trading information relating to the match, such as the names of people who placed bets, but have refused to do so after deeming such a move an "excessive" breach of privacy. As the FA does not have a jurisdiction in the far east it cannot compel SBOBET or IBCBET, who are not themselves under suspicion of any impropriety, to cooperate. Little progress can now be made with its investigation, which was launched after the British bookmaker Spreadex alerted the authorities to an alleged "massive movement" in the Asian betting markets during half-time of the Norwich v Derby match on October 4, which the visitors won 2-1 having led 1-0 at the interval. This has come as a great frustration to Soho Square officials who, along with the Gambling Commission, have received full assistance with their inquiries from all contacted British and European gambling firms as well as Norwich and Derby themselves, neither of whom are linked to the alleged betting sting. They insist, however, that this does not mean the matter had come to an end. As Derby and Norwich met for the second time in 24 days last night, the matchday programme failed to contain a single mention of the match-fixing suspicions, not surprising considering the reaction of Derby's chairman, Adam Pearson, after the allegations were made public. He accused the two East Anglian MPs, Dr Ian Gibson and Norman Lamb, who raised the matter in Parliament of trying to create a "bit of a profile" for themselves and described the possibility of the result at Carrow Road being prearranged as "far-fetched". The FA, meanwhile, fears its Respect campaign, designed to stop players haranguing officials, is being undermined by Premier League managers. The FA has called a meeting to discuss refereeing issues but some managers are believed to be angry at the difficulty of appealing against controversial decisions. |
|||||
|
|||||
Welcome to the News desk. 