April 30 – Former English Premier League footballer Delroy Facey has been jailed for two and a half years after being convicted of conspiring to bribe non-league players.
Facey was jailed alongside former non-league player Moses Swaibu who was found guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery and sentenced to 16 months.
The former players had been arrested as part of National Crime Agency investigation into match-fixing. Facey was working as a middleman between the players and Krishna Ganeshan, who provided the cash. Ganeshan was jailed for five years alongside Singaporean national Chann Sankaran last June.
The evidence against Facey included a text message where he offered a player at non league Hyde FC £2,000, as well as messages between Facey and Ganeshan instructing Facey to “keep your boys on stand-by”. The offences took place in 2013.
Judge Mary Stacey, summing up at Birmingham Crown Court, told Facey: “It’s about the fans of the teams involved, the families who follow the fortunes of their teams with passion, loyalty and devotion.
“You have betrayed all that trust, all that confidence and it’s like a cancer at the heart of football.”
Facey had a career that saw him play for Bolton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City, and earned salaries in excess of £65,000 a year though not the big money of top players in the Premier League. Facey played internationally for Grenada.
Ecky Tiwana, speaking for Facey, said: “It has not only been a professional tragedy but a personal one.
“The stigma of being the most high-profile footballer being convicted of this type of offence – that will have a lasting effect on him, for the rest of his life.”
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