Bribery case is sent to court

BRUCE GROBBELAAR, John Fashanu and Hans Segers were yesterday sent for trial to face charges of conspiring to fix matches in England's Premier League.

Malaysian businessman Heng Lim was also committed to trial after a five day hearing by magistrates in the southern English town of Eastleigh.

The four were accused of conspiring together to give and accept gifts of money as inducements to influence the outcome of soccer matches improperly or as rewards for having so done.

They all denied the allegations and have been on bail since July. No date has yet been announced for their trial, to be held in the cathedral city of Winchester.

The players, together with Heng Lim and Fashanu's wife Melissa Kassa Mapsi, were charged after a police investigation into alleged match fixing and corruption. Charges against Kassa Mapsi here later withdrawn.

Zimbabwean born Grobbelaar, a goalkeeper who now plays for Southampton, is his country's most famous sportsman.

Dutchman Segers, also a goalkeeper, plays for Wimbledon, the club where Fashanu made his name. Fashanu, a forward, moved to Aston Villa before being forced to retire through injury.

Grobbelaar, 38, who spent much of his career with Liverpool, was charged under a 90 year old corruption law with accepting £40,000 from Fashanu to influence the result of a game against Newcastle United in November 1993 which Newcastle won 3-0.

Fashanu, 32, was charged with giving Grobbelaar the money and with giving £19,000 to Segers, 33, after Wimbledon's 3-0 defeat at Liverpool in October 1994. Segers was charged with accepting the alleged bribe.

Grobbelaar was also charged with accepting £2,000 from his former business partner, Chris Vincent, in November 1994 as an inducement to throw an unspecified match. Grobbelaar moved to Southampton before the 1994/95 season.

Police who uncovered the alleged match fixing ring dropped an investigation into allegations that Fashanu, now a popular television presenter, had tried to intimidate witnesses.

The inquiry was prompted by media claims about the activities of an Asian gambling syndicate in England's Premier League. Games are the subject of heavy betting both on the results and the exact score.