Ex-referee reveals role in booking scam

LONDON: A former referee in English football’s elite Premier League has admitted to going along with a request to deliberately book a player back in 2011.

Mark Halsey, who retired at the end of the 2012/13 season, told CNN Sport on Thursday: “(The player) just said ‘listen, look, we’ve got a game Tuesday. “If I don’t get cautioned now and get one Tuesday, I’ll miss the big derby on the Saturday,” he added.

“So he just asked me if I could show a yellow. And I did actually.“I said to him, ‘Alright, we’ve got 10 minutes to go, when I give a free-kick against you’ — and I knew I would because he’s that sort of player — ‘just leather the ball 50 yards away and I can caution you for dissent’.

“If you’ve got big games coming up and you’re on four yellow cards, one more means you get suspended. I just said to him, ‘Don’t do nothing stupid.’“He came up to me at the end of the game and said, ‘Thanks for that Mark.’”