Football
PA Sport 10y

English FA compiles match-fixing 'watch list'

A number of English-based players suspected of a connection to match-fixing have been put on notice to report any suspicious activity to the Football Association or face punishment.

The FA's head of football integrity David Newton admitted to the Mail On Sunday that a number of players -- possibly a dozen playing in lower-league or non-league English football -- are on a "watch list" of individuals who cannot be prevented from playing but who are considered 'persons of interest' in the organisation's fight against fixing.

Newton said: "In the event that we believe somebody is connected in some way [to fixing] we may remind them of their responsibilities.

"We can seek various written confirmations from them that they have nothing they wish to share with us in terms of breaches of our rules or those of any other body or international association, and they will inform us the minute they do become aware of anything."

The FA reminded Conference South clubs of their responsibilities to abide by its rules in March 2013 after it received reports of suspicious betting patterns, but no formal police investigation took place.

The National Crime Agency did become involved in a separate case that led to the convictions and imprisonment of Sanjay Ganeshan and Chann Sankaran in June over a conspiracy to fix matches in England in November 2013.

Darren Bailey, the FA's director of governance and regulation, told the same newspaper: "These matters are now treated with the utmost seriousness by all the relevant agencies. We're a lot happier in relation to the manner in which these matters are dealt with now."

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