Eight men go on trial in failed matchfixing case

FRANKFURT, Jan 18 (Reuters) A man accused of being the ringleader of a gang that allegedly bribed players and a coach in bungled attempts to fix matches in Austria went on trial with seven others in a German court today.

William Lim, a 45-year-old Malaysian-born Briton, is charged with leading a betting ring that paid bribes in a bid to sway the outcome of games in Austria's first division and German lower divisions between mid-2005 and March 2006.

To laughter in the courtroom, prosecutors described how the gang lost over 700,000 euros (6,900) in one match-fixing attempt and 125,000 euros (1,900) in another.

Lim is on trial with four other men accused of aiding him in the scam and three players at lower division German clubs.

All the defendants declined to plead to the charges in court today.

State prosecutors in the Frankfurt regional court said that in early 2006 one of the group travelled to Austria where he met Michael Petrovic, then the coach of first division team Sturm Graz, and player Bojan Filipovic.

They agreed, said prosecutors, to influence the outcome of a match against Austria Vienna so that Sturm Graz would lose the game by at least two goals.

Lim, who described himself as a trained cook, bet around 600,000 euros (7,300) on the match while one of his co-defendants wagered 137,000 euros.

They lost their money when the game ended drawn at 0-0 and they refused to pay the promised 60,000 euros to their contacts at Sturm Graz, prosecutors said.

Petrovic and Filipovic, who are not on trial, have strongly denied any wrongdoing.

At the time of an investigation by Austrian police in April last year, the club said it had received sworn statements from the two men declaring that they had no involvement in any possible manipulation of matches.

It was not the only bet that went wrong, prosecutors said.

Before a game between Sturm Graz and Salzburg at the beginning of March 2006 the group agreed with Filipovic and another Sturm Graz player to pay them 5,000 and 2,500 euros respectively to play defensively.

Lim bet 100,000 euros and a co-defendant 25,000 euros that no more than three goals would be scored. Sturm Graz won the game 4-0 and the money was lost.

Prosecutors in court said the group would typically pay players 5,000 euros to play badly in certain other matches and twice as much should they, for example, cause a penalty to be awarded or get a yellow card.

The trial, which is set to last several weeks, continues.

Reuters SAM RS2035