The player is charged with taking bribes and cheating, which can result in a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.

- He denies any wrongdoing, says the player's defense lawyer Frank Thorstensson.

A large number of journalists are on site in the district court, but the player declines all requests for an interview, reports TT on Tuesday.

Throws away the ball

The prosecutors, who are on a video link, claim that the player intentionally took a yellow card in an Allsvenskan match in the spring of 2019 and received SEK 300,000 deposited in his account a few days later.

During the hearing, a video of the current warning was played in court.

- It happens roughly in the middle, it is not a dangerous situation.

He does not hit the ball at all and in this situation the referee blows a free kick.

He sees that he has not received a yellow card and then picks up the ball and throws it away to further prevent the game, says prosecutor Staffan Edlund.

"In the heat of the moment"

The player himself believes that the warning is incorrect and that he was allowed to borrow SEK 300,000 from friends without consideration.

- This happened in the heat of the moment.

It was not something he did on purpose, says lawyer Frank Thorstensson.

A few days before the match, he signed a promissory note for the loan from two men - 31 and 34 years old - who are accused of giving bribes and gambling.

Gaming companies alerted

It has been played from 34 gaming accounts belonging to the co-accused men or persons in their vicinity.

In the summer of 2019, a gaming company sounded the alarm about a deviating gaming pattern.

- There had been suspicion that there had been match-fixing during this match, says Staffan Edlund.

In some of the suspected games, the elite player's yellow card has been part of a combination game with a division 3 match, where a co-accused 34-year-old is the goalkeeper in one of the teams.

The goalkeeper is suspected of taking bribes to underperform in a total of six league games in the 2019 season.

Smaller winnings

The games have not generated any large winnings.

The total net profit for games where the yellow card was included was SEK 192,000 and for the Division 3 matches the net profit landed at SEK 113,900.

- He has no knowledge of who has played on this yellow card at all, says Frank Thorstensson.

The elite player has been a professional in the Allsvenskan and abroad, but has no money saved at the bank.

He has struggled with extensive gambling addiction for more or less his entire career and was therefore in need of money.

- It has become a problem and I have had it for a few years, the player has said in police interrogation.

Proof of sms

During the autumn of 2019, the player repaid the loan of SEK 300,000, but was then required to pay SEK 100,000 in interest.

SMS conversations are highlighted where one of the co-defendants tells the player that another man - whom the prosecutors have not been able to determine whether he exists or not - demands to get the money.

"He's boiling, he should have had them a month ago.

He is crazy ", it says in a text message that the prosecutors read out.

The trial in the district court is planned to last for five days, with May 31 as the last day of hearings.