League of Ireland footballer praised for reporting approach that led to Garda probe into ‘alleged bribery incident’

A general picture of a footballer in action

Football authorities have praised a League of Ireland player for reporting the approach that has instigated a Gardai investigation into an ‘alleged bribery incident’ around the opening weekend of the season.

Both the FAI and players union PFA Ireland have released statements commending the actions of the footballer who was approached with an offer to engage in spot-fixing.

The Irish Independent reported last night that a search was conducted in Dublin yesterday by officers attached to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB).

A garda statement confirmed that the operation was conducted “as part of an investigation into an alleged bribery incident relating to a sports fixture. Items of potential evidential value were seized. No arrests have been made at this time.

“As this is a live criminal investigation An Garda Síochána is not providing any further comment.”

The Irish Independent revealed that the probe is League of Ireland related and was launched after a player reported an approach from a third party who offered them a financial incentive to perform a specific action in a game for betting purposes – a practice known as spot fixing.

While match-fixing is manipulating the result of a game, and would need the involvement of several people to be effective, spot-fixing is a consequence of individual markets on things that may or may not happen in the course of the 90 minutes such as yellow cards, red cards or the concession of penalties.

After rejecting the advance, the player made the decision to notify the relevant authorities through official channels.

The FAI were made aware of the matter and they released a statement through their League of Ireland department late