Footballers on match-fixing charges

Two footballers have appeared in court charged in connection with a National Crime Agency inquiry into alleged match-fixing.

Michael Boateng and Hakeem Adelakun, who have been sacked by Brighton-based Whitehawk FC, are accused of taking part in a conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.

The Conference South players, both 22 and from south London, were granted unconditional bail at Birmingham Magistrates' Court.

A court spokesman said Boateng, of Davidson Road, Croydon, and Adelakun, of Mayfield Crescent, Thornton Heath, were both ordered to reappear at Birmingham Crown Court this Friday.

It is alleged that the players conspired with two other men, who have already appeared in court, to influence the course of football matches.

Chann Sankaran and Krishna Sanjey Ganeshan, both originally from Singapore, were remanded in custody by magistrates in Cannock, Staffordshire, on November 29.

Ganeshan, 43, of Hougang Avenue, Singapore, and Sankaran, 33, of Hawthorn Road, Hastings, East Sussex, are also due before a judge at Birmingham Crown Court later this week.

The conspiracy is alleged to have taken place in Manchester and elsewhere between November 1 and November 26 this year.