Premiership match-fixing Asian syndicate cracked

London, Aug 18: An Asian betting syndicate was behind an elaborate scam to fix the results of Premiership soccer matches by tampering wit...

London, Aug 18: An Asian betting syndicate was behind an elaborate scam to fix the results of Premiership soccer matches by tampering with the floodlights, netting it hundreds of thousands of dollars, a British court was told today.

The ring was behind two abandoned matches in 1997 when the lights suddenly went out and had planned to target a third when British police broke up the plot, Middlesex Guildhall Crown court heard.

Two Malaysians and a man of Hong Kong origin, along with a senior security guard at Charlton Football Club offered a 20,000 pound ($32,000) bribe, have been charged in connection with the plot.

The syndicate brought an early end to matches by planting devices near the floodlights causing them to fail and matches to be abandoned.

Prosecutor Mark Dennis told the jury of nine men and three women yesterday that Asian betting rules meant that if a match was abandoned, all bets stood on the score at the time.

A syndicate could make a considerable gain if the game had to be abandoned while the score favoured them. The operation struck at the heart of English football and showed “complete disregard to the damage that could be caused to the reputation and integrity of the professional game in this country,” Dennis said.

The scam was only uncovered when the four men tried to sabotage Charlton’s home game against Liverpool on February 13 this year by using a remote control device from within the ground to trigger a floodlight failure.

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But the “careless talk” of the security guard, bribed to let the team into the ground, attracted police attention and the four were arrested three days before the targeted match, the court heard.

The first match was at Upton Park in November 1997 where West Ham were playing at home to Crystal Palace. The lights went out 20 minutes into the second half just after West Ham had drawn level.

The second was a month later at Selhurst Park where Wimbledon were playing at home to Arsenal and again the lights went out shortly after half-time when the scores were level.

Malaysians Eng Hwa Lim, 35, and Chee Kew Ong, 49, have admitted conspiracy to cause a public nuisance along with Roger Firth, also 49.

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Wai Yuen Liu, 38, born in Hong Kong but who lives in London, denied the charge and his trial started yesterday. The court was told how Liu was a gambler who fell heavily into debt after losing 120,000 pounds at one London casino over two years.

“It may help to explain why he was happy to be part of this money-making conspiracy,” said the prosecutor.