Information blackout in 'thorough' betting probe

The Football Association insists that its current investigation into alleged match-fixing was started promptly and will be "utterly thorough", although a spokesman for the governing body was yesterday unable to provide specific details.

Neither of the clubs involved in the match under scrutiny – Derby's 2-1 win at Norwich on 4 October – had been contacted by yesterday, nor had any of the players.

FA sources concede privately that a lack of resources and cross-border jurisdiction make it difficult for the FA to garner any information from bodies such as Asian online bookmaking firms, which is where the alleged irregular betting patterns took place.

The FA has contacted British bookmakers about the matter, but as The Independent reported yesterday morning, no irregular betting was seen on the game by those firms.

After being accused of complacency by Norman Lamb, one of the Norfolk MPs who asked questions in parliament about the investigation, an FA spokesman responded: "The FA began its investigation as soon as an allegation was received about unusual betting patterns around the match in question. Our inquiries have been ongoing since then and will be conducted with appropriate confidentiality. We totally reject accusations that we have been complacent in any way on this matter."

The FA privately argues that any investigation must be wholly confidential, with sources comparing it to police work. Yet a lack of transparency and accountability leave an information vacuum. The FA, for example, cannot, or will not, say how many other alleged match-fixing cases it has examined in recent years; nor how many, if any, cases remain open and unresolved; nor what, if any, detailed work was ever done on them.

The FA has already muddied the waters for itself in the Norwich-Derby case by saying there is a specific allegation of wrongdoing, as opposed to a general suggestion of "only" irregular and unspecified betting patterns.

What is the specific allegation mentioned? "That's confidential," a spokesman said.

The Norwich manager, Glenn Roeder, speaking publicly for the first time on the matter, said: "I would be 100 percent certain there is no one at Norwich City that's involved in anything at all . . . If professional sport isn't clean, what is the point of being involved ?"

Meanwhile, a European coalition of major online betting firms, the European Sports Security Association, confirmed "none of our members found any irregular betting activities" on the game.