Two Whitehawk FC players charged with fraud

London: Two footballers at the centre of an alleged match-fixing scandal have been charged with fraud following an investigation here.

Michael Boateng, 22, and Hakeem Adelakun, 22, both from the Croydon area, are accused of conspiring to defraud bookmakers by influencing the course of football matches and placing bets. The men play for Whitehawk FC football Club, which is part of the Conference South League. They have been bailed to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on December 11. The decision was taken by the organised crime division of the Crown Prosecution Service. The men were among seven arrested last week as part of a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation. Two other men included in the initial arrested -- Chann Sankaran, 33, a Singaporean national and Krishna Sanjey Ganeshan, 43, of Hastings, East Sussex -- were also charged with the same offence last week. Sankaran and Ganeshan appeared at Cannock Magistrates` Court in Staffordshire. They were not required to enter any pleas during the five-minute hearing. Sankaran, wearing a hooded Manchester United training jacket, and his co-accused were both remanded in custody to appear at Birmingham Crown Court on December 13. The maximum sentence for this offence is 10 years` imprisonment. Three others have been bailed pending further enquiries.