Premier League players accused of 'fixing matches' as investigator speaks out

The former head of an international crime investigation unit has reportedly made an extraordinary claim about match-fixing in the Premier League. Fredrik Gardare, who was previously in charge of a Swedish police unit investigating organised crime in sport, is said to believe critical evidence has been ignored by the authorities in England.

The bombshell threatens to rock the domestic game and leave the FA with questions to answer. According to the Daily Mail, they have yet to receive the Swedish police investigation's evidence, but have confirmed they want to assess it. Gardare has already successfully exposed one ex-Premier League star, Manchester City product Dickson Etuhu.

The Nigerian midfielder, who played in the top-flight for both Sunderland and Fulham, was found guilty in 2019 of fixing Swedish football matches. The 43-year-old was handed a five-year ban from the game the following year.

Gardare's investigations didn't end there. In 2021, he authorised a raid on an illegal casino, resulting in multiple mobile phones being seized. One phone was said to have evidence of match fixing across Europe, with Gardare now claiming a number of Premier League players were involved

The Swedish police authority opted not to take the investigation further. That outcome left Gardare bewildered, and he's now called for the English FA to act.

"It was very high priority from my side, I set my whole team on this investigation," he's quoted as saying. "We also gave the information to the football federation here in Sweden directly and said, 'This is serious'. Hopefully they called the English FA, but I don't know.

"This is important for both Swedish football and football in several countries. It's important for England and international football to stop ongoing match-fixing. There was more than one Premier League player (found on the phone). Betting on yellow cards, corners and other aspects in matches."

In response, Swedish FA integrity officer Johan Claesson reportedly stated: "It is correct that the Swedish FA in 2021, received general intelligence from the police that they had found information regarding match-fixing on both national and international level in a phone after a raid against an illegal casino. But the intelligence we received did not contain any specifics that we could act on."