FA to investigate bribery claims

By Mike Collett

LONDON (Reuters) - The English Football Association (FA) said on Friday it will investigate allegations that a former Premier League player accepted a 50,000 pounds bribe to help throw a game.

The player, who has not been named, got himself sent off and also persuaded three team mates to get booked in a match played somewhere in Britain in the last two years, The Independent newspaper said on Friday.

In exchange, a bookmaker allegedly agreed to write off the 50,000 pounds debt the player had racked up.

An FA spokesman told Reuters: "We will be starting inquiries about the story immediately and the first thing we need to establish is if the match was played in England or not. The story says Britain, but we don't know if it was in England.

"There are very clear rules on betting which state players must not gamble on competitions they are taking part in and any threat to the integrity of our competitions is taken very seriously."

The case came to light at a seminar on gambling at the Sporting Chance Clinic, held in Hampshire, southern England, earlier this week.

The player in question has been treated at Sporting Chance, a centre for the treatment of players with problems which is supported financially by the FA and Professional Footballers Association.

Bribery and corruption cases have been relatively rare in English soccer, although a number of players have admitted being addicted to gambling in the recent past including former Arsenal and England midfielder Paul Merson and current West Ham United player Matthew Etherington.