Former Premier League player charged in match-fixing probe

Former Premier League striker Delroy Facey has been charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, officers investigating match-fixing said on Monday.

Facey was arrested in November 2013 and will appear in court at Cannock in England's West Midlands on Tuesday, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said in a statement.

The agency said that charges had been authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service's Organised Crime Division on the basis that there is a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.

The NCA said the charges against Facey were part of an ongoing match-fixing investigation which secured the convictions in June of Chann Sankaran, Krishna Ganeshan and Michael Boateng.

"They paid footballers to influence the outcome of matches so that others could profit through betting on the result," the NCA statement said.

"Another man arrested as part of the same investigation, Moses Swaibu, will be retried after the jury was unable to reach a verdict in June," it added.

"He will appear at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday 19 September."

Facey made 10 Premier League appearances for Bolton Wanderers in a journeyman career that included spells with Huddersfield, West Bromwich Albion, Hull City, Oldham Athletic and Notts County. He last played, for Hereford, in 2012.

Image: Delroy Facey

Photograph: Pete Norton/Getty Images