By Andrew Warshaw
December 18 – One of the players at the centre of the English spotfixing scandal has been sacked by his club on the grounds of gross misconduct.
Colombian-born winger Cristian Montano, one of six players recently arrested as part of a widespread investigation, has been released by League One Oldham for tarnishing the club’s reputation.
Montano is alleged to have deliberately tried to get a yellow card in exchange for money in the first half of a league game at Wolverhampton Wanderers on October 22, won 2-0 by the home side. He was actually booked in the second half.
“A decision has been made to dismiss the player forthwith,” Oldham said in a statement. “It is our view that the player’s conduct, amounts to very serious breaches of club discipline, and therefore constitutes gross misconduct.
“Oldham Athletic take matters such as this extremely seriously and believe it was essential to act as swiftly as possible in conjunction with our legal advisers to investigate and deal with this matter decisively once they became aware of the allegations and irrespective of any other investigations and proceedings by other agencies.”
Montano, who has scored four goals in 48 games for Oldham, signed a two-year contract in August 2012, with the option of a third, after joining from Premier League West Ham for an undisclosed fee.
His alleged wrongdoing was uncovered when he featured in a secretly filmed newspaper sting, showing him apologising for not getting cautioned at the agreed time. All the suspects, the most high profile of whom is former Premier League forward D.J Campbell, now playing one division lower for Blackburn Rovers, have been bailed until April – but Oldham decided to terminate Montano’s contract with immediate effect.
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