A NUMBER of players suspected of a connection to match-fixing have been put on notice to report any suspicious activity to the Football Association (FA) or face punishment it emerged yesterday.

FA head of football integrity David Newton admitted that a number of players — possibly a dozen playing in lower-league or non-league English football — are on a “watch list” of individuals who cannot be prevented from playing but who are considered “persons of interest” in the organisation’s fight against fixing.

Newton said: “In the event that we believe somebody is connected in some way (to fixing) we may remind them of their responsibilities.

“We can seek various written confirmations from them that they have nothing they wish to share with us in terms of breaches of our rules or those of any other body or international association, and they will inform us the minute they do become aware of anything.”

The FA reminded Conference South clubs of their responsibilities to abide by its rules in March 2013 after suspicious betting patterns were reported to it.

The National Crime Agency did become involved in a separate case which led to the convictions and imprisonment of Sanjay Ganeshan and Chann Sankaran in June.

FA director of governance and regulation Darren Bailey said: “These matters are now treated with the utmost seriousness by all the relevant agencies.”