Soccer-Malaysian jailed over Australian soccer match-fixing

By Anna Harrington MELBOURNE, April 24 (Reuters) - The Malaysian ringleader of an Australian soccer match-fixing ring was jailed on Thursday, shortly after the lower league club involved was fined and deducted points for their failure to prevent the situation. Victorian County Court Judge Michael Bourke sentenced Segaran "Gerry" Subramaniam to three years imprisonment, with two suspended, after he pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct to corrupt the betting outcome. Subramaniam was arrested in September 2013 as part of a police investigation into betting irregularities surrounding Victorian Premier League club Southern Stars. Given time already served, Subramaniam is likely to spend at least five months in jail, after which he will probably be deported, a court spokeswoman said. Two English players have already been convicted and fined for their involvement, and slapped with worldwide life bans by soccer's global governing body FIFA earlier this year. Early on Thursday, Football Federation Victoria (FFV), concluded its investigation into the Southern Stars, charging them with "misconduct by materially injuring the reputation and goodwill of football". FFV fined the Southern Stars A$10,000 ($9,300), deducted eight championship points from its 2014 season and told them they must regularly report back during the season after undergoing educational courses. "The investigation identified a serious lack of governance and failure to conduct due diligence by the committee at Southern Stars," FFV chief executive officer Mitchell Murphy said in a statement. "Although no criminal charges have been laid against any of the committee members at Southern Stars, its poor administration provided an environment and the opportunity for the match-fixing to take place." The punishments come after convicted soccer match-fixer Wilson Raj Parumal was arrested in Helsinki. The 48-year-old Singaporean had been under house arrest in Hungary prior to his arrest last week. ($1 = A$1.0766) (Reporting By Anna Harrington; Editing by Patrick Johnston/John O'Brien)