Hungarian player and former referee convicted of trying to fix local football match

BUDAPEST, Hungary – A Hungarian player and a former referee have been convicted of trying to fix a local under-19 football match in 2010.

According to Thursday's decision by a Budapest court, Csaba Ponczok, playing for Videoton-Puskas Akademia, tried to bribe the goalkeeper of visiting Ferencvaros to allow at least four goals. The goalkeeper later reported the match-fixing attempt, while the home team won 1-0.

Janos Csak, a former referee, was fined 450,000 forints ($1,850) for his involvement in the bribery attempt.

Csak is also a defendant in another match-fixing case in Hungary, where the main defendant of 12 on trial is Tan Seet Eng, a Singaporean also known as Dan Tan, the alleged head of a global crime syndicate suspected of rigging matches across the world.

Eng is being tried in absentia.