June 26, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 21, 1429

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25: In a sensational allegation, several unnamed Malaysian hockey players have been accused by their own governing body of fixing a match against India in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup here last month.

The players had placed online bets on Malaysia losing last round-robin game against India on May 17, a Malaysian tabloid alleged in a report which has been taken note of by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

India won the match 2-1 on their way to final of the tournament where they lost to Argentina.

Malaysian Hockey Federation lodged a police complaint after tabloid Malay Mail published report claiming that several Malaysian players had fixed the match against India. MHF also started their own investigation on allegations regarding the match.

Indians, on their part, have strongly denied any involvement of their players in alleged fixing episode with Chairman of selection committee Aslam Sher Khan saying they did not even have an inkling of such a matter.

“There is no Indian involvement. If Malaysian players are involved, its not for us to bother. We did not even have a hint about it,” Aslam Sher told Press Trust of India.

“Our players played and won four consecutive league matches in which fourth tie was against Malaysia. It was also a narrow win,” he said.—Agencies