Regulator keen to co-operate against match fixing

Gambling Commission Director of Regulation Nick Tofiluk has pledged to work closely with the National Crime Agency (NCA) after the conviction of three men on the charges of conspiracy to commit bribery surrounding match fixing.

The jury at Birmingham Crown Court found that Chann Sankaran, a Singapore national, and Krishna Ganeshan, a UK national originally from Sri Lanka, were the central conspirators in the match fixing plot, and had recruited Michael Boateng, a player from Conference South team Whitehawk FC, to help them. A fourth man, Hakeem Adelakun, was acquitted. There will be a retrial in respect of a fifth man, on whom the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

The Gambling Commission and the Football Association supported the National Crime Agency during the investigation. Tofiluk commented: “We welcome the work of the NCA and we continue to work in partnership with law enforcement agencies, sport and betting operators to ensure that match fixers, whatever the sport, are identified and dealt with.”