FIFA are investigating former Southampton defender Claus Lundekvam's claims that he was involved in spot-fixing... not match-fixing...
Lundekvam claimed he, team-mates and opposing captains were involved in betting fraud. He claimed it took place in the Premier in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In a TV interview in Norway with NRK, Lundekvam has denied fixing matches, but said players fixed individual acts such like the first throw-in to rig props:
"It's not something I'm proud of.
"For a while we did this almost every week. We made a fair bit of money. We could make deals with the opposing captain about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a free-kick.
"Those were the sorts of thing we had influence over."
"The results were never on the agenda. That is something I would never have done. We were professional competitors. Even though what we did, of course, was illegal, it was just a fun thing."
FIFA said in one of those prepared statements: "FIFA is monitoring this issue and involved its chief investigator in England. Once all information is known it will be decided who is leading the investigations."
Here's a piece of video the HQ found where Lundekvam scored an own goal when he played for Southampton against Everton- a 4-1 loss in 1999
Don't think the hammer will fall down hard if any of this stuff can ever be proven or traced backwards. But the question is: What do you do to all of the individuals allegedly involved...??? And how far back do you go...???
It's common knowledge that Lundekvam fell victim to some demons after retirement. The question there is: Is he just trying to get attention or is he trying to come clean as part of recovery and cleansing his conscience...???
The motivation will be interesting to see...
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