Former professional reveals Chelsea players ‘were approached by match-fixers’

A former professional footballer has claimed that Chelsea players have previously been approached by match-fixers.

Moses Swaibu, who played for the likes of Crystal Palace and Lincoln City was jailed for 16 months in 2015 after being involved in a match-fixing trial. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery and was embroiled in an international criminal network that paid players to do things like purposely getting booked in exchange for cash.

Now, Swaibu has worked with the likes of the Premier League, the Football Association, UEFA and FIFA to detail and share his expertise on how criminal organisations exploit football.

During an interview with The Athletic, Swaibu revealed that Chelsea are among the clubs who have had issues with “a lot of approaches”. He said: “They’ve had quite a few match-fixers approach their players over the years.”

The report also stated that there is no evidence any players from the Stamford Bridge club discussed or agreed to match-fixing.

Swaibu then explained that players who play for lower league teams are more vulnerable, whilst adding that match-fixing isn’t just “go and lose the game”.

He added: “Match-fixing isn’t just, ‘go and lose the game’.

“There’s spot-fixing, too, where the scenario could be, ‘Moses, you know the left-back, do you think he could get a yellow card?’. I can ask him. And if he says yes, OK, I will take 10 grand and give him five.” There is no suggestion that he was referring to any particular left-back when stating this example.

Swaibu continued: “How rife is it in modern football? Football makes up 61% of illegal gambling.

“Wherever there’s a low amount of earnings in any league — whether it’s the UK, America, anywhere — you’re going to have a high potential of matches being manipulated.”

SPORTbible has contacted Chelsea Football Club for comment.