Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Premier League, Football
John McDougall
A trio of English football players were once handed prison sentences over match fixing, including a former Premier League star.
Delroy Facey, now aged 45, played for Bolton Wanderers in the top flight between 2002 and 2004, and also represented a host of clubs across the EFL throughout his career including Huddersfield Town, Bradford City, Burnley, West Bromwich Albion, Hull City and Oldham Athletic.
But Facey was the most high-profile player arrested in November 2013 along with five others on suspicion of match fixing following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.
He was found guilty and convicted of conspiring to bribe non-league players at Birmingham Crown Court and was sent down for two-and-a-half years back in April 2015.
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Facey was also handed a lifetime ban from all football and football related activity by the Football Association (FA) in September 2014, with his final club having been Bradford-based non-league side Albion Sports.
Another player involved in the conspiracy was Moses Swaibu, who came through the youth team ranks at Crystal Palace, but never made a first-team appearance for the Eagles.
He went on to play for a host of non-league clubs, before he too was found guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery and received a prison sentence of 16 months at the same time as Facey.
Since his release, according to BBC Sport, Swaibu, now aged 36, has gone on to work with FIFA, the Premier League and Sport Integrity Global Alliance to understand match-fixers' strategies and their psychology, as well as helping to identify and safeguard individuals who might be vulnerable to becoming involved in match fixing.
A third former player involved in the scandal was Michael Boateng, who also came through the youth ranks at Crystal Palace's Academy before he was released.
Boateng, now aged 33, played for Carshalton Athletic before joining Bristol Rovers in League Two.
The right-back played for a host of clubs in non-league including Tonbridge Angels, Sutton United, Bromley, Newport County and latterly Whitehawk.
However, Boateng was convicted in June 2014 of conspiracy to commit bribery for his role, and was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment.
The following year after his conviction, Boateng was given a lifetime suspension from football by the FA.