The three men, Wai Yuen Liu, of Kensington, Chee Kew Ong and Eng Hwa Lim, both of Paddington, were arrested on 11 February and are being held on charges of conspiracy to obtain a pecuniary advantage and criminal damage. Roger Firth, of Bexleyheath, head of security at Charlton FC, was allegedly offered a £20 000 bribe to help set up the plot. He has been released on police bail.
Two other men were also arrested on 9 March in connection with floodlight failures at West Ham and Wimbledon's grounds on 3 November 1997 and 2 December 1997 respectively.
The plan to rig the game at Charlton involved the installation of electronic gadgetry onto the floodlighting wiring circuit. This equipment, most probably some kind of switching device, was to have been activated remotely using a radio controller when the score in the Premiership clash between Charlton and Liverpool reached that on which the betting ring had placed its wager.
The ground, plunged into darkness, would have been reduced to a state of chaos, destroying any hope of restarting the match.
It's a funny old game
English football has always been seen as a scandal-free sport when compared to the constant drug-taking allegations in athletics and calls of doping in horse racing. Fair enough, there is the odd bung-friendly goalkeeper but football has got off lightly (pardon the pun) until now.
This method of game rigging is no use if bets are placed in the UK. Here, if a game is stopped due to unforeseen circumstances all bets are off. However, in the Far East syndicates often bet millions of pounds on a single result and the bets stand if the game is stopped after half-time.
This revelation throws into doubt the authenticity of blackouts, all of which happened in the second half, at four other Premiership games during this and last season.
Following these failures, Haden Building Management was called in to check out the floodlighting installations at all of the Premiership club grounds – Charlton was in the First Division at the time. Tim Shaw, chief electrical manager with Haden, says: "We completed an inspection of all of the grounds last year and no unusual devices were found, just neglect."
Shady dealings
There was no evidence of sabotage at other grounds but how easy would it be? Shaw comments: "It depends on the subtlety required. One ground I know has its main intake in a nearby Sainsburys' car park. The easiest way of putting out its floodlights would be to crash a lorry through the wall and into the substation. Or, you could jump over the wall, break into the switch box and turn off the power to the ground." But Charlton's switchroom is inside the ground. Police investigations have found that people matching the descriptions of the accused had visited the ground on previous occasions under various guises including a Japanese tourist and a Radio 5 Live interviewer. The imposter allegedly asked an electrician: "Where's the switch to your floodlights?" So, if you had knowledge of the ground would that alone be enough? Shaw says: "It depends on the situation. Some grounds have one switch which operates all of the lights remotely. On others you have to walk around the ground switching on each set of lights. I even know of one where the lights are operated via a computer controlled system. You could hack into that."
Valley of darkness
In Charlton's case, someone definitely had inside knowledge: where the switchroom was situated and what type of floodlight control was being used. Would this make sabotage of the floodlighting an easy one? Shaw says: "The cables which run around the ground are accessible but they are usually armoured and you'd have to cut the cable, install the device and rejoin the cable without anyone seeing. Someone would notice.
"The best place to do it would be in the switchroom as nobody visits it much before the game." What would you do once you were in the switchroom? Shaw comments: "The control wires to the contactor would be the thing to go for. The contactor simply switches the lights on and off, override it and the lights go out."
The safe bet?
English football is highly regarded by the honest betting fraternity in the Far East because it is said to be 'clean' – devoid of corruption. Malaysia, on the other hand, the native country of three of those accused, is not so 'clean'. Four years ago, more than 60 players were questioned about taking bribes to throw matches.
A match-rigging scandal has been thwarted this time but how do we guard against criminal activity? Security is the crux of the matter. It is very slipshod if someone can walk into the ground with electronic equipment, then spend time wiring it in. Until grounds are completely safe from trespass no game will be completely safe. Securing vulnerable areas and making regular checks on critical elements, like the switchrooms, is a good start.
Tight security, like a well-disciplined back four is a must. Push up and catch the striker off-side. But do it properly or you'll pay the penalty.
Source
Electrical and Mechanical Contractor
