CHAIRMAN Jeff Mostyn said he had “every confidence” the Cherries playing staff would be “beyond reproach” to the temptation to fix matches.

His comments came in the wake of six men being arrested over fixing allegations following an undercover investigation by the Sun newspaper.

Ex-Portsmouth player Sam Sodje told a reporter he could arrange yellow and red cards in exchange for cash and was filmed saying he had deliberately been sent off for a payment of £70,000.

Blackburn striker DJ Campbell was one of five footballers implicated along with Oldham’s Cristiano Montano, Tranmere’s Ian Goodison, Sodje and his brother Akpo, who also plays for Tranmere.

The allegations are being investigated by the National Crime Agency, while the gov-ernment’s culture secretary Maria Miller yesterday met with leaders from football, cricket, horse racing, rugby league and rugby union.

Asked by the Daily Echo whether he felt Cherries were clean, Mostyn replied: “I have every confidence that our players are beyond reproach when it comes to how they play and perceive the game and they know what is right and wrong. They have the education and we talk about it in the community. It would be wrong to think that what we teach in the community we are not teaching to our own players whether it is the latest new recruit or a member of the first-team squad.

“We have an education programme and the FA has an integrity unit. It is not as if this has come out of the blue and I have every confidence all our players are aware of the pitfalls and how this brings the whole game into disrepute. Like any sport, without integrity, it does not exist.”

Mostyn, who is also an FA council member, added: “The FA’s general secretary insisted match-fixing was not wide-spread but, like all of us, has warned against complacency and I think that is our stance as a club.

“Match-fixing in any sport will not be tolerated. In my opinion, it is like taking drugs because you are trying to gain an advantage. When you take drugs, you are trying to gain a personal advantage and, when you take bribes, you are presenting an advantage to your opponent at the expense of your team-mates. I have no doubt there will be some regulatory discussion on what the penalties should be.

“FIFPro, a global form of the PFA, has said footballers are the victims of match-fixing not the initiators and that the players are at the bottom of the chain. The federations and clubs have a duty of care to protect the players from temp-tation. Players don’t advertise themselves but people are getting to them, especially at a young age. Players must be educated that, from time to time, there may be opportun-ists out there who would seek to gain a financial advantage by encouraging them to do something they shouldn’t.”