Ex-Bolton Wanderers striker Delroy Facey ‘cast his net around’ for players to find those willing to help fix Premier League matches, a court has heard.
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The 34-year-old former-pro is said to have acted as a middle-men for two men already convicted for match-fixing offences, according to Daily Mail.
Facey is standing trial at Birmingham Crown Court alongside former non-league player Moses Swaibu, and denies conspiracy to commit bribery.
When the trial began on Monday, prosecutor Nick Mather declared to the jury that they would not need to be experts on football to find the two men guilty.
“Football in this case is really nothing more than a means to an end – it’s an opportunity to make money,” said Mather to the jury panel, as reported by the Daily Mail.
“It’s described sometimes as the beautiful game but football has an ugly side to it as well, and it’s that ugly side we are going to be looking at.”
Two match-fixers, Chann Sankaran and Krishna Ganeshan, were both found guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery at a previous trial and are alleged to have tried to corrupt Swaibu.
It’s claimed Sankaran and Ganeshan travelled to Britain with the sole intent of rigging matches and targeted lower-league matches due to the high level of scrutiny of Premier League games.
Describing Facey, prosecutor Mather said he was the middleman, the one who would find the players Sankaran and Ganeshan could corrupt and convince to take part in match-fixing.
“He was a middleman, a fixer. He was somebody who cast his net around to find players who might be willing to take part in match-fixing.
“This case is not about whether this scheme existed,’ Mr Mather said. “The issue for you to decide is whether you are sure that firstly, Delroy Facey, and secondly Moses Swaibu, was a part of that agreement.
“This case is focused on them and what they did, and why they did it.”
The trial is expected to last three weeks.
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