Thai court indicts 15 in match-fixing scandal

Bangkok: A Thai court on Monday indicted 15 players, a referee and a linesman for involvement in match-fixing in the domestic football league last year.

The announcement follows a lengthy investigation which saw many of the accused arrested and released on bail.

The Attorney General's office said in a statement the 15 were charged with "violating sport laws, gambling laws and criminal codes".

The penalties could range from one to 10 years in jail or up to 600,000 baht (18,000) in fines.

All have denied the charges and a court will convene to gather evidence in September, the statement said.

It did not mention the specific clubs.

In November the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) said a dozen people had been accused of "receiving money or benefits in order to throw a game" or influencing others to throw a game or manipulate the score.

But it said more could be swept up in what the national police chief called a "historic" investigation for the sport.

The FAT released the details of the probe days after the end of the football season, after noticing an unusual number of last-minute goals involving one football club.

Thais are football-mad

and the boss of the FAT, a former police chief, vowed to clean up the sport when he took office.

Police said at the time that the most paid to players and officials to fix a single game was the equivalent of around 27,000.

Thai league football

was once notorious for

match-fixing but in recent years the league has professionalised.