KATHMANDU: Five footballers, who were arrested on October 14 by Nepal Police on charge of match-fixing, have been presented before the Special Court on Tuesday. They face treason charges for match-fixing the international games that Nepal played and rigging the results in exchange of kickbacks and thereby inflicting shame of the country. Briefly talking to the media, suspended captain of the national football team, Sagar Thapa, pleaded not guilty to the match-fixing charges. He expressed grief over the treatment against the accused footballers as 'guilty' by the media. A police team deployed from Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) had apprehended captain Thapa, vice-captain Sandip Rai, goalkeeper Ritesh Thapa, former national defender Bikash Singh Chhetri, and former national player and former coach of Three Star Club Anjan KC from different places of the Kathmandu Valley. All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) on October 15 had suspended the tainted footballers from all football-related activities until the investigation concludes. Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on October 19 had provisionally suspended the five footballers linked to match-fixing. READ ALSO

• Nepal national team footballers arrested on charge of match-fixing in national and international games
• AFC suspends Nepali footballers for match-fixing, writes to FIFA for worldwide ban on them