By Mark Baber
March 4 – Michael Boateng (pictured), the former Crystal Palace youth player who was sentenced to jail for match-fixing last year, has had his lifetime ban from football extended worldwide by FIFA.
Boateng, a defender with Whitehawk FC, was recruited to fix matches in the Conference South in 2013 and attempted to draw at least one other player into the plot. The scheme was first uncovered by the Daily Telegraph who passed the information on to police who in turn mounted a surveillance operation before arresting those involved.
A statement on Fifa’s website read: “A lifetime ban imposed by The Football Association (The FA) against British player Michael Boateng (from England) in relation to match manipulation has been extended by FIFA to have worldwide effect.
“Michael Boateng admitted to charges laid against him by The FA for several breaches of The FA Rules, including accepting a bribe, gift, reward or other consideration which was, or appeared to be, related to seeking to influence the outcome or conduct of a match or competition. The player also admitted to the charge of failing to report the offer made to him.”
At the trial at Birmingham Crown Court it emerged that Boateng had been recruited by Chann Sankaran, 33, from Singapore, and Krishna Ganeshan, 44, a British national originally from Sri Lanka whilst playing for Brighton-based Whitehawk.
Boateng was sentenced to 16 months in jail whilst Sankaran and Ganeshan each received five-year terms for conspiracy to commit bribery.
According to the National Crime Agency, Ganeshan and Sankaran were “at the very beginning of a concerted attempt to build a network of corrupt players in the UK.”
Their aim, according to the NCA, was “to influence play so that they could make spot bets and manipulate scorelines to generate large sums of money. They clearly had links to business-like networks overseas.”
At the trial the Judge declared that “Professional football and sport play an important part in national life and individuals’ lives in this country.
“Those who make determined attempts to destroy its integrity for personal gain must expect significant prison sentences so when such acts are discovered a clear signal is sent to others.”
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