Photo: Footballer Sam Sodje Faces Arrest

Admits getting £70,000 for red card against Oldham

Claims players get £30,000 for yellow card, £50,000 for red

He can get crooked players to manipulate World Cup games 

An ex-Premier League footballer faces arrest after he was filmed bragging that he can arrange for professional footballers to get yellow cards or even sent off in return for cash.

According to Sam Sodje, who played for Portsmouth and also in the top flight at Reading, he can arrange certain events in play for money.

In the said video the 34-year-old Nigerian defender Sodje boast that he can arrange for players to get themselves booked for a £30,000 pay-out.

Fraudsters can benefit from the occasion, when large bets are made on incidents like red and yellow cards, penalties and even corner kicks.

In the video Sodje says he fixed it for an ex-Premier League player, who now plays in the Championship, to get a yellow card and can even organize similar events in Premier League games – for a much greater price because of the huge fines for players at that level.

Moreover, Sodje claims that he can arrange for African footballers to influence what happens in World Cup games, noting that some players could be easily tempted by this idea, because they do not get paid as much to represent their national teams.

This information has been handed to the police. Sodje's case is under investigation now. 

Sodje and his brother Stephen claim they can even get players sent off – an event which can cripple a team’s chances in a game – for between £50,000 and £70,000. He even said he could set up a bet an entire week before a game, while he warned the reporter not to pay one player rumoured to be involved in fixing matches because the sportsman was already under scrutiny.

Sodje spoke of meeting a Premiership player in a Manchester hotel room, as well as at the home of another to discuss a potential fix.

The footage also shows him admitting punching an opponent in the groin to get sent off for a £70,000 pay-out. While playing for Portsmouth, Sodje punched Oldham Athletic’s Jose Baxter twice in the game, which took place in February. He said: ‘Do you know how much I got fined?

I got fined £10k and I missed six games.’ He said he had to launch the bizarre attack as the referee had not been booking him for tackling.

The reporters also claim to have met with Cristian Montano, who was allegedly supposed to get booked in a game against Wolves in the first half – but failed.

The Nation