Malta facing Fifa grilling over suspicious betting

Malta's players and manager are to be interviewed by Fifa this week over suspicious betting patterns in a game in Scotland's World Cup group, according to The Times of London.

Lithuania beat Malta 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier in October and the alarm was raised because of abnormal betting activity, prompting Fifa to launch a probe.

Investigators from Fifa's integrity office are on the island to interview the coach Pietro Ghedin and players from the squad who were involved in the fixture.

Maltese police have already launched an investigation into the tie following a request from the Maltese FA after match-fixing allegations were raised.

Suspicions were aroused so much before the game that Paolo Rondelli, the Fifa match commissioner, took the unusual step of entering the dressing rooms of both teams as well as the referee to reveal the findings of Fifa's Early Warning System. Bets on Lithuania netting two late goals continued to pour in during the game and they duly obliged by scoring twice in the last 15 minutes.