Match Fixing in England?

By: Daryl | October 16th, 2008

There just might be.

There’s an investigation going on right now into Derby County’s 2-1 win over Norwich City at Carrow Road on October 4th, and the suspicious Asian betting activity surrounding it.

I’d say it’s suspicious for anyone in Asia to be putting money on Derby County winning a game of football, even if The Rams are enjoying some form in the Championship this seaosn, but it’s way more serious that that. Apparently there was a massive flood of bets at half time, at which point Derby led 1-0, and there are now suspicions about exactly what happened in that game.

Notable incidents from the second half include Derby keeper Roy Carroll being sent off in the 50th minute after bringing down a Norwich player in his area, Sammy Clingan scoring the resulting penalty, and Derby’s Nathan Ellington scoring the winner after a poor clearance from Norwich keeper David Marshall.

This is from ESPN’s match report, published long before any match-fixing allegations:

The game looked to be destined for a draw before Marshall made a hash of a clearance to gift the ball to Ellington, who tapped the ball into the empty net from outside the area.

(Unfortunately I couldn’t find any video of Ellington’s goal, so if anyone out there finds it please leave a link in the comments or send it to tips[at[theoffside.com)

Sounds suspicious in hindsight, right? But football is full of mishaps and duff clearances, so it’s definitely too early to be making any hasty accusations.

The FA is promising to make a thorough inquiry etcetera, especially because they’re obligated to do so. But it’s going to be hard work as they have no jurisdiction over Asian gambling markets.

Obviously I hope no players were involved in this. My gut feeling is that first team Championship players are paid well enough that bribes shouldn’t be all that tempting, but looks like we’re going to have to wait and see what – if anything – the FA uncover here.