Nepal football captain, four other team members arrested over match fixing

Nepal National Team skipper Sagar Thapa has been arrsted by Nepal Police over suspection of Match Fixing along with four other players.

“The All Nepal Football Association is extremely saddened and shocked to hear the news covered by the media on the investigation of national football team captain Sagar Thapa along with Sandeep Rai, Ritesh Thapa, Bikash Singh Chhetri and coach Anjan KC over matchfixing”, the ANFA said in a statement. Police are also searching three other players, a football official and a bank staff in connection with the case. If the charges against the five footballers are proved, they will be sentenced to jail and fined, besides getting disqualified from playing any match in the future, the police officer said.

According to the police who received information about their involvement in the illegal activities, the players were monitored for weeks and an investment in a casino in neighboring Sikkim, India was made by at least one of the suspects. KC started fixing matches as a player and began extending his networks after he was appointed a coach, according to police.

“We’ve recorded banking transactions amounting to millions between them and worldwide match fixers, including those in Malaysia and Singapore”, Sarbendra Khanal, chief of Metropolitan Police Crime Division in Kathmandu, told AFP. Nepal’s Asian Games qualifying matches against Palestine (4-0) and Saudi Arabia (6-0) are also under scrutiny.

Last yr, officers from ANFA requested Federation Internationale de Football Association to research the Nepali governing physique.