Two players, one coach linked to Belgian match-fixing.
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Lierse SK on Thursday suspended two players and an assistant coach who have been linked to match-fixing allegations.
Police questioned players Cliff Mardulier and Laurent Fassotte and assistant coach Patrick Deman on Wednesday after a complaint from Lierse.
Lierse chairman Leo Theyskens said they "will be summarily dismissed" if the allegations are proven.
The daily De Standaard reported Thursday that Asian bettors have wagered unusually large amounts on Lierse matches that have attracted up to $356,000 each in bets.
Another top-division Belgian club, Sint Truiden, has filed a complaint to police after an unexpected loss that attracted high amounts of betting
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Tai vyksta ne tik Belgijoje...
zinau, bet nepamenu kada paskutini kart lazinaus Belgijos futbole... vistiek graudus tokie dalykai... aisku jei zinotum tokius dalykus tai vaje vaje galetum $ pasidaryt, bet kai nzn tai bbd ant tokių uŲiurbanų mafijų..
Tai vyksta ne tik Belgijoje...
zjbs... vartininkas fixina... reikia praleist 3 ivaruŲius, ok bus...
Nebuvo man Belgijos futbolas patrauklus ir nebus
A probe into match-fixing by a Chinese-mafia controlled betting ring in Belgian top-flight football has deepened after players confessed to being paid off, newspapers reported.
Three players from Lierse, a club which experienced financial difficulties last season and is lying at the foot of the Belgian first division, were questioned by police overnight Wednesday and released after confessing, Le Soir reported on Thursday.
Those named were goalkeeper Cliff Mardulier, goalkeeping coach and third keeper at the club Patrick Deman and defender Laurent Fassotte, who acknowledged being questioned but vehemently denied that he was paid off.
Fassotte's lawyer said in a statement that the authorities had raided the player's home and questioned him but did not arrest him. He also threatened to sue any media that defamed the defender.
A number of newspapers said that three or four matches played by the club in the 2004-2005 season had been fixed. Lierse lost all of them, and unusually large sums of money had been bet on at least two of the games on the Internet.
The Brussels prosecutor's office, which opened an inquiry into the affair late last year, could not be contacted Thursday to confirm the press reports.
The match-fixing scam surfaced earlier this month, when Flemish VRT television broadcast an investigation into attempts to sway the results of top-flight games by the Chinese mafia.
The programme, made using hidden cameras, claimed to show how gamblers benefitted from tip-offs from informants close to clubs in the Belgian first division.
It claimed that seven matches had been fixed, many involving another club in relegation trouble La Louviere, and that big money had been placed on the games.
The Belgian press has speculated for months that a Chinese businessman identified as Ye Zheyun had offered money to players and officials at clubs in financial difficulties in exchange for favours on the pitch.
Belgian authorities are keen to talk to the businessman but have been unable to locate him.
A probe into match-fixing by a Chinese-mafia controlled betting ring in Belgian top-flight football has deepened after players confessed to being paid off