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Former Southampton legend Claus Lundekvam has revealed the existence of a betting scam during his playing days, which involved top flight captains. According to the Norwegian, players made thousands of pounds through spot fixing, just like the three Pakistan cricketers, who had been jailed recently. Lundekvam insists other Premier League captains conspired with the betting scam syndicate, and also claimed that Saints' aces raked in thousands of pounds in betting on their own games for a spell, doing it 'almost every week'. The Norwegian international alleged that they used club staff to place big stakes on incidents like the first throw-in, or on a corner, that they conspired with captains from opposing teams to ensure the bets came off, and added that the problem was common in the Premier League where players lived in a 'bubble'. "It's not something I'm proud of. For a while, we did this almost every week. We made a fair bit of money,' The Sun quoted Lundekvam, as saying. "We could make deals with the opposing captain about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a penalty. Those were the sorts of things we had influence over," he added. Lundekvam, who was a victim of cocaine and alcohol abuse after retiring in 2008, insists it was not just Saints players who were breaking the law and the FA rules. "I know it happened at other clubs as well. We footballers live in a bubble. It was part of the lifestyle and the excitement. Whatever we could bet on, we bet on," he said. Lundekvam also insisted he and his teammates had never doctored the result of a game. He added: "The results were never on the agenda. That is something I would never have done. We were professional competitors. Even though what we did, of course, was illegal, it was just a fun.

Betting scams in Premier League going on for decades, reveals ex-Saints' footballer