Three men connected to a Victorian Premier League (VPL) football team have been charged over an alleged international match-fixing ring.
Ten people associated with the Southern Stars Football Club across Melbourne.
Police say they have so far identified more than $ 2 million in betting winnings from the alleged syndicate.
In an out of sessions court hearing at St Kilda on Sunday evening, police prosecutors alleged that Gerry Gsubramanian, 45,was a key contact between international fixers and the Southern Stars.
Prosecutor Scott Poynder alleged that Gsubramanian advised the team how to play and told them what scores to achieve.
Gsubramanian was charged with five counts of conduct that corrupts betting outcomes, and a further five counts of conduct that facilitates the corruption of betting outcomes.
Acting Senior Sergeant Poynder argued that Gsubramanian was an unacceptable flight risk and that telephone intercept material revealed he attempted to change the details on his passport and airline ticket.
Gsubramanian was remanded in custody to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court tomorrow morning.
The Purana Taskforce and Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit began its investigation in August after a tip-off from Football Federation Australia (FFA).
The court heard the investigation focused on four Southern Stars football matches.
United Kingdom citizen and professional footballer Joe Wooley, 23, also appeared in court charged with four counts of conduct that corrupts betting outcomes.
Wooley, one of the Southern Stars goalkeepers, was described as another key figure in the ring.
He was bailed to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on September 20.
A third player, 24-year-old Ress Noel, faced the same charges and was bailed.
Players face lifetime, worldwide bans
FFA chief executive David Gallop says his organisation will also seek to take action against those arrested.
“We will initiate proceedings under our own codes of conduct,” he said.
“You can be sure that we will throw the book at these perpetrators. That means life bans on a worldwide basis.”
The FFA were alerted to the betting activity by its monitoring service Sportradar, an independent agency that also works with the Union of European Football Associations and Europe-based competitions.
Gallop says there is no evidence to indicate that similar betting patterns are taking place in other state-based leagues.
But he says the limited media coverage of semi-professional football meant these competitions could be at risk.
“Probably fair to say that this highlights the fact that lower league games, which aren’t under the scrutiny of things like live television broadcast, are potentially more susceptible to this kind of activity,” Gallop said.
Gallop says the arrests should serve as a warning for all sporting competitions in Australia.
“It is clearly distressing for everyone in Australian sport – we have known this threat exists,” he said.
“What we can say is that the detection measures we have had in place have worked and that is a sign that we are working in the right direction but we have to stay vigilant.”
The Southern Stars sit last on the VPL table, having won just one match from 21 this season and with a goal difference of minus 43.
