Football spot-fixing probe collapses over Fake Sheikh evidence worry

Former Premier League striker DJ Campbell was among 13 players cleared of alleged football corruption following the collapse of an investigation into spot-fixing claims.

Concerns about the credibility of evidence gathered by a journalist known as the 'Fake Sheikh' prompted the shutting down of the investigation.

It follows the collapse of other cases involving information collected by the Sun on Sunday reporter - real name Mazher Mahmood - including that of former X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos and rapper Mike GLC, real name Michael Coombs.

Other players caught up in the spot-fixing investigation included ex-League One player Christian Montano, who was fired by Oldham Athletic over the allegations.

All 13 players maintained their innocence of the allegations.

Announcing the end of the investigation, a Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: "The reliability of the evidence of one alleged witness in particular had to be very carefully considered in light of recent events in the trial of Contostavlos and Coombs.

"This was not the only evidence that was considered and when all the evidence submitted by investigators was carefully reviewed in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, it was decided that there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction."

Campbell dropped into non-league football in a bid to rediscover his love of the game by playing for free for Maidenhead, while Montano sued Oldham over his dismissal.