Malaysian betting syndicate approached Mumbai FC to fix I-League matches

Mumbai FC

The Malaysian betting syndicate, already under investigation for a large scale global football match fixing scandal, tried to alter the results of a few I-League matches last season. The syndicate, it has been now revealed, offered huge sums of money to Mumbai FC officials in March-April 2013 to throw away games they were expected to win.

Four or five players and officials of Mumbai FC were approached a number of times over the phone last summer by a Malaysian man named Subramaniam claiming to be the owner of an online betting agency with operations in Australia, Singapore and Europe, apart from Malaysia. The team was even invited to play friendly matches in Malaysia.

The main man behind the global fixing scandal is believed to be a Malaysian Tamil named Segaran Gerry Subramaniam although it has not been confirmed if it was the same guy who contacted Mumbai FC. The guy has a history of match fixing and was arrested in Australia last summer for fixing matches in the Australian domestic league.

Mumbai FC vice-president Atul Bagdamia has confirmed that they were offered money to fix matches but refused to play ball. He said he had informed the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Interpol about the calls from Malaysia during a two-day seminar in New Delhi, which ended Thursday.

“Yes, the club was approached by a few Malaysian men. They called me and invited the team to Malaysia to play friendly matches. They said all expenses would be borne by them. I was okay with the idea, not knowing what exactly they had in mind,” Bagdamia said. “However, the man later said we will have to fix the outcome of our I-League matches before going to Malaysia for friendlies. When they mentioned match-fixing, I immediately broke contact with them.”

“The team was in Pune for a match when an unknown person came to the team hotel and requested to meet a team official at the lobby,” said a source close to the team management. “The man said he was from Malaysia and was in India on business. He asked the official about his family and other stuff. It was a very casual conversation.”

The Malaysian man is said to have revealed after the meeting that he was a representative of an online betting company in Malaysia. The man told the team officials that they will be contacted by his boss to “discuss business”. The boss, Subramaniam, called a team official a few days later and asked to meet the team management and a few players.

A day later, Subramaniam called and the offer to fix a match was officially made. Subramaniam claimed he had made contact with a few of the team’s players and that his men had met them at the team hotel. He did not name the players but claimed to have spoken to four or five of them.

“He said the players will have to be categorically told to under-perform and lose the game,” the source said.

It is also believed that at least two other I-League clubs apart from Mumbai FC were approached to fix matches.