Sinning Saints: Matt Le Tissier and Claus Lundekvam |
IT was way back in May, 1997, I witnessed my first clear
case of spot fixing in sport. Not in a county cricket game watched by a few
dozen hardy fans, but in a Premier League football match between Manchester
United and West Ham.
The game at Old Trafford was just two seconds old when West
Ham’s Paul Kitson received the ball and, inexplicably, launched it over the
touch-line for a throw-in.
The Hammers manager that night as they slipped to a 2-0
defeat? A certain Harry Redknapp, surprisingly overlooked for the England job
and ejected from the Spurs hot-seat last month.
At the time Redknapp, found innocent on tax evasion charges
last year, said: "I must admit it was a bit of a poxy kick- off. We were
supposed to hit Iain Dowie but Paul hit it straight into the stand.
"It's a very dodgy bet and I suppose it could be open
to manipulation. But having said that, what if the other side kicks off?"
Well, now we know. According to The Sun in London this
morning, the clubs would have agreed all that before the start.
Claus Lundekvam, who played for Southampton from 1996 to
2008 and won 40 Norway caps, reveals: “We would make a deal with the opposing
captain about betting on, say, the first throw or first corner. It’s not
something I’m proud of. But for a while we did it almost every week.”
Lundekvam, now 39, admitted that such bets could also
involve yellow cards – and even penalties.
Yet he insists: “Results were never on the agenda. That is
something I would never have done. We were professional competitors. Even
though what we did, of course, was illegal, it was just a fun thing.”
Yes, just a bit of fun for some of the most highly paid sportsmen
in the world.
But tell that to the now-infamous band of Pakistan
cricketers captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir. All three were
jailed last year for what has become known as “spot fixing” when they bowled no
balls to order against England at Lord’s in 2010.
Those Pakistan players were on a fraction of a Premier
League star’s salary – but no doubt football will just sneer: “It was a while
ago, no problem, the lads were just having a laugh” and carry serenely on
without sanction. And all that despite Wayne Rooney’s father and uncle being
arrested last year over a similar scandal during a Scottish Premier League
match and rumours surrounding Joey Barton’ ridiculous sending off for QPR
against Manchester City on the last day of last season.
Apparently it’s fine to jail Pakistanis for spot-fixing, but
English Premier League players are exempt, even if they admit fixing.
But how does it work? Why put the ball out of play after
just two seconds? It’s simple. At the time, spread betting was a new
phenomenon. Originally invented for bored stock market traders, sport was the
obvious growth market for the new form of gambling. City Index sponsored my
trip to South Africa for the 1997 Lions rugby tour, and at the time, it looked
like good harmless commercial symbiosis to have have their logo on my columns
in the Sunday Mirror.
But by the time I returned from that tour, match fixing was
becoming a dirty word in sport. And the full depths of in-game gambling were
emerging. Wally Pyrah of Sporting Index confessed that there had been
"concerns" about the United-West Ham match, “because there were a lot
of rumours".
As it happened, the “spread” on a first throw-in at the
average football game – when it normally happens – is between 70 and 85
seconds. But Kitson’s action meant United took the first throw-in after just
seven seconds, meaning that anyone 'selling' at 70-85 seconds would have won 63
times his stake – 63 seconds at, say a fiver a second. That’s not a bad return.
Since then of course, all “novelty” wagers and bets on
throw-ins have been abolished with City Index spokesman Paul Austin saying: “The clear inference is that they were
desperate to strike a bet.”
Of course they were
striking a bet! In his biography “Taking Le Tiss”, Southampton’s only superstar
Matthew Le Tissier recalls a game against Wimbledon in 1995 when he and friends
stood to make 10,000 for an early throw in. He says: “Spread betting had just
started to be popular. I’d never have done anything that might have affected
the outcome of the match, but I couldn’t see a problem with making a few quid
on the first throw-in.
“The problem was Neil Shipperley knew nothing about the bet
and when I tried to put the ball out, he headed it back. I charged around
desperately trying to kick the ball out. We stood to lose a lot if it went much
longer than 75 seconds.
“I had visions of guys coming to kneecap me. Eventually we
got the ball out on 70 seconds. The neutral time meant we had neither won nor
lost. I have never tried spread betting since.”
He might not have, but clearly other footballers carried on
doing it for years, even after the Football Association banned all players from
gambling in late 1997. Ludekvam admits: “There were often several players who
put money in the pot — several hundred pounds each, sometimes a thousand each.
“We would then give the money to one of the staff who would
put the money on for us, so we didn’t have to do it ourselves and so create
suspicion.”
So for those who point the finger at Pakistan cricketers and
shadowy middle-eastern betting syndicates, think again. Back in 2008, Arsenal
boss Arsene Wenger called for life-time bans for footballers caught fixing,
saying: "It's the English culture. It's an addiction. Some players become
crazy and are ready to sell their wife, their furniture."
He’s right of course. English football has been hit by
betting scandals repeatedly since 1965 when Sheffield Wednesday trio Tony Kay,
Peter Swann and David Layne came out to play in South Africa after being caught
match-fixing.
So will the FA do anything about this morning’s revelations
in The Sun? I wouldn’t bet on it.
It seems there are different rules depending on what the betting man does. Cricket is the poor cousin of soccer, hence he gets the short straw. Will we ever see the day an EPL player is arrested and convicted of spot-fixing? Not in this lifetime. No doubt betting is a sickness that we might never see cured, for as long as players aren't tempted at the sight of making a few extra bob. Here's to hoping David Bernstein and Sir Dave Richards follow up on this and take decisive action on the guilty parties.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are wrong Neal but I suspect ou are not.
ReplyDeleteOf course there are 2 differences here not just one
- its football not cricket
- that was 1995 whereas the Pakistan guys did what they did in 2011.
Many cricketers did the dirty in the 90s and got away relatively scot free. I suppose at least Gibbs , Williams etc got bans but nothing criminal.
In 2011 the uk police and crown prosecutor got involved with cricket.
Would they go back to 90s offences?
What I find disturbing is that le tis seems to think he didn't cheat or try and defraud anyone.
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