Top flight players, referees and a club director are among a dozen people under investigation for match fixing, officials said yesterday, in a scandal that threatens to engulf the domestic football league.
The 12 suspects are: five players -- four from Thai League 1 club Navy and one from Nakhon Ratchasima, also in the top flight; Cherdsak Boonchu, director of Si Sa Ket; referees Poomirin Kumruen and Teerajit Sithisuk; and four contractors.
The list of names was revealed at a press briefing yesterday by national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda. It was jointly organised by the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) and the Royal Thai Police.
"This is a historic case," Pol Gen Chakthip told reporters at the Royal Thai Police headquarters.
"We believe this group might be quite big because they have been operating for such a long time."
FAT president Somyot Poompunmuang added: "Match-fixing has been going on for a long time. It's time we eradicate it. It is a bad disease that needs to be cured.''
The suspects are accused of colluding to ensure results in matches last season.
The men were arrested and released on bail after a year-long probe, Pol Gen Chakthip said.
The 12 are accused of "receiving money or benefits in order to throw a game or influence others to throw a game or manipulate the score".
The four alleged contractors are Wanlop Saman, Kittiphum Paphunga, Manit (Setprasit) Komonwatthana and Phakphum Phannikun, according to the national police chief.
Pol Gen Chakthip claimed they were part of a "large network spread over the whole country".
Navy and Nakhon Ratchasima finished in the lower half of the T1 table, while Si Sa Ket were relegated from T1 to T2 at the end of the season, which finished on Saturday.
An initial investigation into the alleged match-fixing on July 20 this year found the alleged contractors first colluded with brokers, who worked as go-betweens for them and club managers, in manipulating certain results.
Money was then paid to football clubs, referees and players. At least five to six participants in a match played a key role in making sure certain results occurred.
"Each was given between 100,000 baht and 350,000 baht," Pol Gen Chakthip said, pointing the finger at a referee named "Mr Ke", who allegedly helped manipulate one match's outcome on July 20.
A further investigation also found similar irregularities in four other matches on July 26 and Sept 10, 17 and 23, the police chief said.
If found guilty, football players and those who masterminded the fixed results could be jailed for five years and/or fined between 200,000 and 500,000 baht while referees face a maximum 10-year jail term and/or fines of between 300,000 and 600,000 baht.
"We believe there are more suspects, but we're waiting for clear evidence," Pol Gen Chakthip said. Rumours of match-fixing have dogged Thai football for years.
Nobody has ever seriously tackled this issue before out of fear of confronting influential figures and former administrators in the Football Association of Thailand, FAT president Somyot Poompunmuang said.
These people allegedly used every method to lure, or force, others to join their match-fixing plots, ranging from "offering benefits to outright threats", Pol Gen Somyot, a former national police chief, said.
If a referee refused the fixers' advances he would face losing wages and being barred from training sessions which would hinder his career, he said.
Thai league football was once notorious for match-fixing linked to gambling between mega-rich club owners and overseas betting syndicates that riddle Southeast Asian sport.
But in recent years the league has professionalised, with rising TV income and match day receipts boosting the profile of the domestic game while foreign players have raised the standard on the pitch.
Pol Gen Somyot had vowed to clean up the sport when he took office.
