'They can fix games in any league, I've seen it – and it's coming here'

Gambling scandals are almost as old as football, blighting the game in ways as diverse as the Swan-Kay-Lane match-fixing case of 1965, the Grobbelaar-Segers-Fashanu trials of 1997 and numerous minor fines for players who made "recreational" bets that flouted the FA's blanket ban on betting, which has been diluted in recent years.

Then there were the floodlight failures at Charlton, West Ham and Wimbledon, and accusations against club officials at Swindon and Gillingham about improper wagers.

The Betfair age has produced at least one long and fruitless investigation into whether a football manager or any of his close associates cashed in by betting on him moving club. Only technicalities over what is and is not legally provable as insider trading stopped disciplinary action in one case.

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Then there was the revelation last year by The Independent, substantiated by the head of the country's foremost clinic for treating sportsmen with addictions, that an "epidemic" of gambling has led to incidents of corrupt on-field behaviour by addicted players in order to repay debts to bookmakers.

In Germany, the Hoyzer scandal led to a referee being imprisoned for fixing games, which showed that South African cricket – through the Hansie Cronje affair – was far from the only clean sporting environment to be, in fact, riddled with corruption. It can happen anywhere, and with the surge in online betting and the proliferation of markets operating outwith effective regulation, it does.

The Football Association knows this, and acknowledges the threat, but as the FA stated publicly in a response in August 2007 to a Gambling Commission consultation on integrity in sports betting, "it is extremely frustrating that we are incurring additional, and increasing, costs in making sure we are able to deal with sports betting by participants".

So the FA still invests relatively little in this area and "believes as a matter of principle that if significant amounts of income are generated by the betting industry on the back of betting on football, some of that income ought to be allocated towards the cost of policing integrity in football."

Extra investment in this area cannot come soon enough, according to one expert in the dangers presented by the widening phenomenon of Asia-based match fixers in particular.

"For some time they've been travelling around the world, fixing at every major tournament," said Declan Hill, speaking yesterday as he promoted a conference – called Play the Game, to be staged at Coventry University in June – at which he will make a keynote address on football corruption. "They tell you they can fix matches in any league, in any tournament, and while they can't guarantee to get to every player and every club, they do find a way in. I've seen it, and it's coming to Britain."

Hill, a former Oxford University academic, is a Canadian documentary maker and writer who has won awards – including from Amnesty International – for his investigations into human rights abuses, the Mafia and other organised crime. His book, The Fix, was published last year and details his four-year study into the world of match-fixing, focusing particularly on Asian fixers.

His work has naturally been lambasted by organisations such as Fifa, football's world governing body, which he accuses of complacency, as well as football associations and bodies implicated in allegations of corruption. But the book is based, among other things, on interviews with more than 200 players, referees, officials, policeman, prosecutors and the fixers themselves. And Hill makes specific allegations about fixing at tournaments including the 1991 Under-17 World Cup, the 1995 Under-20 World Cup, the 1997 Under-20 World Cup, the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2006 World Cup, international friendlies in 2007, the women's World Cup in China the same year and the 2008 African Cup of Nations.

"If England matched America, there would be a specialist full-time policing unit at the FA staffed by former cops and investigators to guard the game's integrity. I cannot believe that an association like the FA, which administrates and runs a multibillion pound industry, does not have a dedicated security department.

"My fear for football is it will suffer from complacency in the way cycling has done over drugs."

Case study 1: Norwich City v Derby County, Championship 4/10/2008

Match details Derby's Rob Hulse scores, 26 min, 1-0. Derby's goalkeeper Roy Carroll, sent off, 51 min for foul on Leroy Lita; Norwich score penalty, 1-1. Nathan Ellington scores Derby winner, 85 min.

Alleged betting Reports of "massive movement" in Asian betting markets, placed with Philippines-based gambling firms.

Investigation The FA announced it would investigate, and on 4 December said that it had closed its inquiry, having found "as a result of detailed enquiries, there is no evidence to suggest any irregularities around the progress or result".

What actually happened The FA says that it received "full cooperation" from the clubs, neither of which had concerns about the match, but it is understood that no players were interviewed, nor were any phone records or bank accounts checked. The FA said it had "received assistance from the Gambling Commission and individual UK bookmakers".

However, there was never any suggestion of irregularities in UK markets. The Independent has been told by FA sources that the association never attempted to contact the Asian firms concerned and that the Gambling Commission made enquiries via email with the firms, who had no obligation to reply.

Case study 2: Accrington Stanley v Bury, League Two 3/05/2008

Match details Bury's Andy Bishop scored both goals, a 22nd-minute penalty, and another goal just before half-time.

Alleged betting Several bookmakers, including William Hill and Coral, closed their books after seeing "an unusual amount of money" placed, including multiple cash bets in shops with CCTV.

Investigation The FA said it would investigate, having been aware of the patterns on the Friday before the game on the Saturday.

What actually happened Nine months on, nobody can or will say. An FA spokesman said he could give no details of avenues of inquiry, only: "The investigation is ongoing and we can't make any comment."