Four Israelis convicted of match fixing

JERUSALEM, May 16 (Reuters) An Israeli court convicted four men, including a former referee, and acquitted two others at the end of a long-running soccer match-fixing and corruption trial.

Charges were originally brought in 2003 after a wide-ranging police investigation into the scandal was launched in 2002. Nine men appeared as suspects in the final 118-page judgment issued at Tel Aviv Magistrates Court yesterday. Six of them were convicted on various counts and a seventh man escaped abroad.

In yesterday's judgment, Avi Hudeda, who was found to have run an illegal betting ring, was convicted of bribery and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Former referee Bariq Tahsin was found guilty of conspiracy to commit a crime and of receiving bribes to fix the results of three matches in which he officiated in 1999 and 2000.

Eli Cohen, a former coach and player for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the early 1980s, was convicted of bribing officials to help fix results in 11 matches.

Haim Mirovsky, was acquitted of bribery charges but was convicted of knowingly aiding a crime through introducing two of the convicted men so that they could commit a crime.

The two men acquitted were Bassam Suleiman, former chairman of second division club Ahi Nazareth, and Nabil Daghash. Judge Dan Mor said that in both cases the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond doubt.

The convicted men will hear their sentencing later this year.

Three men convicted last year are already serving jail sentences for their involvement in the affair.

Reuters SRS VP0505