London: A former Premier League footballer was jailed for two and a half years by a British court on Wednesday for conspiring to bribe players in a lower-league match-fixing scam.

Delroy Facey, formerly a striker with Bolton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City, had denied being part of the conspiracy. The 35-year-old argued that he had merely decided to 'humour' businessmen who offered him £15,000 ($23,100, 20,890 euros) to take part in the plot, but a jury at Birmingham Crown Court convicted him of conspiracy to bribe players.