NEW DELHI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has said that it was investigating the claims of match-fixing approaches made to players from the Minerva Punjab Football Club during the ongoing I-League.
The club owner Ranjit Bajaj had earlier revealed that several of his players were approached by bookies for match-fixing, a newswire PTI report said.
“We have received a letter from Minerva Punjab Football Club highlighting approach to their players and officials from other participating teams in the Hero I-League. The case is presently being handled by AIFF Integrity officer who is doing a thorough investigation into the matter and necessary action will be taken as per the regulations,” the AIFF said in a statement.
The unnamed players were offered Rs 3 million in each case. One of the players is Indian while the other is a foreigner, Bajaj had asserted.
“2 of my players came to me with screenshots of match-fixing offers of 30 lakhs. I reported it to Aiff integrity officer & also AFC thru their integrity app/really hope these unscrupulous elements are not successful in getting thru2other players and match officials @ILeagueOfficial,” Bajaj had tweeted in January.
Later in the month of January, Bajaj again wrote on social media that another five of his players were asked to fix matches in the I-League, taking the numbers to seven, the report added.
