A court has heard the alleged Australian “big wig” of an international match-fixing rort was planning to fly out of the country tonight.
Gerry Gsubramaniam, 45, has been charged over his alleged involvement in fixing five matches involving second-tier Melbourne football side Southern Stars.
The coach and four players have also been charged.
Police told the court Gsubramaniam made admissions to police about being in touch with known match-fixers across the world.
The court heard 447 calls made by Gsubramaniam were tapped by police over the past three weeks.
Detective Scott Poynder said Gsubramaniam was in contact with known match-fixers from Malaysia and Hungary and would pass on messages to the players and coach in order to manipulate match outcomes.
Matches under investigation took place on July 21, July 27, August 2, August 31, September 9, while a sixth game is also under suspicion.
The court was told that it will be alleged that tens of thousands of dollars were wagered on matches, including $ 150,000 on last Friday’s game with Richmond which ended 0-0.
Detective Poynder said examples of fixing included matches being thrown with directions given to loose 4-0, goals to be conceded, and players fouling to be sent off the field.
Police told the court Gsubramaniam was an unacceptable flight risk and before his arrest was booked to leave Australia tonight.
The court heard he had the money, means and crime connections to skip bail and police say he has tried to gain a fake passport.
Gsubramaniam’s application for bail has been adjourned until Friday, when he will appear along with Stars coach, Zia Younan, and four players – Nicholas McKoy, David Obaze, Reiss Noel and Joe Wooley.
The Southern Stars is made up of British and Czech professional players who play in Australia in their off-season in what police described as practically an amateur team.
It is the first match-fixing case of its kind in Victoria after laws were introduced in April.
Southern Stars deny knowledge of wrongdoing
Earlier today Stars officials denied any knowledge of wrongdoing.
In a statement, the club says it is run by “honest, hard-working volunteers”.
The statement from club secretary Tony Krianci says the club learned of the allegations when contacted by the media.
“The Southern Stars FC is shocked (by) the alleged match-fixing in the VPL,” he said.
“No-one from the committee is involved in any way. We had no idea this was going on.”
Mr Krianci says now that the matter is before the courts, the club will not be making any further comment.
Brendan Schwab, the chairman of the International Federation of Professional Footballers, says a lack of resources and scrutiny make amateur leagues particularly vulnerable to match fixing.
“I don’t think anyone in football who has been closely watching the development of match-fixing in recent times would be surprised that a game at this level would be targeted,” he said.
He says, however, that it is premature to talk about legislative reform.
“I don’t want to speculate yet what specific form of legislative reform, if any, should be embraced, because at this point in time we want everyone to implement the policy which was adopted in the middle of 2011.”
