NEW DELHI: I-League team Minerva Punjab FC’s owner Ranjit Bajaj claimed Wednesday that two of his players were approached for match-fixing and that he had notified the AIFF and AFC.
“Two of my players, an Indian and a foreigner, were approached by unscrupulous elements to fix matches. This was the first time such an incident was brought to my notice. We have informed the AIFF and AFC about it and also shared the screenshots with them,” Bajaj told Indian Express.
The Chandigarh-based club currently leads the I-League with 22 points from their 9 games and are three points ahead of second placed East Bengal with a game in hand.
Bajaj said the players were offered Rs 3 million for one match. “I don’t know how many players will be able to resist such offers… there are people trying to ruin the game with the lure of easy, big money. Hopefully, these elements are not successful in getting through to other players,” he told Express.
This isn’t the first time that there has been an attempt to fix matches in the I-League. In March 2013, Mumbai FC officials were offered ‘life-changing sums’ to lose matches by a Malaysian match-fixing syndicate.
