Players, referees and team owners indicted on suspicion of match-fixing

Hungarian prosecutors indicted 44 individuals Thursday, including football players, referees and team owners, who are suspected of involvement in an international match-fixing ring which may have manipulated the outcome of 32 local and international football matches.

According to chief prosecutor Keresztes Imre, the matches include at least one international and a number of league games in Hungary, Finland and Italy.

The indictment states that the match-fixing ring began in 2010 when a Hungarian individual joined an Asian match-fixing organisation believed to be headed by Singaporean national T. S. Eng (a.k.a. Dan Tan), allegedly one of the most prolific match-fixers in the world.

Hungarian authorities added that they have issued international and European arrest warrants for Eng.

In related news, Malaysian authorities held a meeting Thursday to discuss the issue of match-fixing after Malaysian football players said they had received death threats for ignoring the instructions of illegal bookmaking syndicates. The Malaysian Football Association has asked all players to immediately report all threats to the police.

Meanwhile in India, Mumbai police served a summons Thursday on Gurunath Meiyappan, chief executive of the Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings, as part of an investigation into alleged spot-fixing. Meiyappan is expected to report to police today for questioning. The scandal has also led to calls for the head of India's Cricket Control Board, N Srinivasan, to resign. Srinivasan is the father-in-law of Meiyappan.