FIFA probe Lundekvam claims

Claus Lundekvam: Made spot-fixing claims which FIFA are to investigate

FIFA are to investigate former Southampton defender Claus Lundekvam's claims that he was involved in spot-fixing, the world governing body have said.

"We could make deals with the opposing captain about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a penalty."
Claus Lundekvam Quotes of the week

Their investigation comes after Lundekvam claimed he, team-mates and opposing captains were involved in betting fraud.

Lundekvam claimed the spot-fixing took place in Premier League matches in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In an interview in his native Norway, Lundekvam has denied ever attempting to fix matches, but said players manipulated incidents such as the first throw-in for betting purposes.

A FIFA statement said: "FIFA is monitoring this issue and involved its chief investigator in England. Once all information is known it will be decided who is leading the investigations."

Not proud

Lundekvam was at Southampton from 1996 to 2008, which spanned nine Premier League seasons and three in the Championship.

Regarding the spot-fixing claims, he told Norwegian TV station NRK: "It's not something I'm proud of.

"For a while we did this almost every week. We made a fair bit of money. We could make deals with the opposing captain about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a free-kick.

"Those were the sorts of thing we had influence over."

Lundekvam insisted he and his fellow players never rigged the result of a match.

He said: "The results were never on the agenda. That is something I would never have done. We were professional competitors. Even though what we did, of course, was illegal, it was just a fun thing."