By Nino Bucci
Four of the Southern Stars players arrested on suspicion of match fixing have left Australia despite police still investigating the scandal. But they may be subject to worldwide bans by football's governing body.
Detectives continue to probe alleged corruption in the Victorian Premier League, as it emerged that one of the arrested players had been linked to match fixing in Romania before arriving in Melbourne.
Joe Wooley, Ryan Hervel, Cristian Cristea, Tamas Nagy and Nicholas McKoy.
The players all featured in matches that police suspect were fixed, but have not been charged with any offences.
Tamas Nagy, Cristian Cristea, Ryan Hervel and Jiri Kabele left Australia in the past two months, as their former teammates await their next court appearance in December.
Tamas Nagy.
All appear to have returned to Europe, where the Stars recruited them before the 2013 season. FIFA is considering the bans for arrested players because of concerns they may be involved in a global match-fixing syndicate.
A spokeswoman for FIFA said the organisation had upheld bans issued by Football Federation Australia to five players and officials who had been charged. She could not say if bans were being considered for those arrested.
Cristea played for FC Snagov in the second division of Romanian soccer during the 2010-11, a season that was investigated by the Union of European Football Associations because of several suspicious results.
While no charges were laid over the season, a cloud remains over some matches, including a 5-0 rout by FC Botosani. FC Snagov beat the same side 4-1 later in the season.
The revelation raises questions about how players linked to match fixing overseas were allowed to be recruited to play in the VPL.
Cristea, 25, is a former Romanian under-17s representative, who played eight matches for the Stars this season as a striker, scoring two goals.
FIFA could not confirm the investigation into FC Snagov, nor the involvement of Cristea, but the suspected scam was reported by Romanian media. Four Stars players, their coach and a middleman with alleged links to an international match-fixing syndicate have been charged over five VPL matches between July 21 and September 13.
FC Snagov players were investigated by UEFA over the FC Botosani match because of poor marking and several suspicious goals.
In June, UEFA banned the Romanian club Steaua from European competition, but the penalty was suspended for five years.
The penalty followed the conviction of Steaua's former owner for trying to fix a match by paying €1.7 million ($A2.45 million) to an opposition team in 2008.
Football Federation Victoria is investigating how the players were recruited to the Stars, after claims that the club was offered a group of international recruits with ''no strings attached''.
A key question is whether the players were on tourist, working holiday or 457 visas, and if the FFV decides to crack down on overseas players, increasingly being recruited to play at the expense of younger local talent.
Barrister Simone Bailey has been hired by FFV to conduct an internal investigation of match fixing, which she is expected to hand to FFV on November 29.
Victoria Police continues to investigate soccer match fixing, with the probe spreading to the Brisbane Premier League and internationally.
Stars players Reiss Noel, 24, Joe Woolley, 23, David Obaze, 23, and Nicholas McKoy, 27, coach Zia Younan, 36, and alleged middleman Segaran ''Gerry'' Gsubramaniam, 45, will appear again in court on December 6.
The players, who are all British, face four counts of engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome and four counts of facilitating conduct that corrupts a betting outcome.
Younan and Gsubramaniam face 10 charges, five of each offence.
■nbucci@theage.com.au