 Fashanu (right) was cleared of match fixing with Bruce Grobbelaar |
A Sunday newspaper which alleged former footballer and TV presenter John Fashanu admitted rigged football matches is standing by its story. The News of the World said in a statement on Sunday that Fashanu's denials "verge on the ridiculous".
The paper alleged Fashanu confessed to taking cash for fixing games to undercover reporters.
However, the former Wimbledon and Aston Villa striker, who is currently chair of Barry Town football club, called it an "absolute load of rubbish".
The FA said it would look into the allegations if the News of the World decided to pass evidence on to officials.
Fashanu said he had simply played along with people who asked him to fix matches in the Middle East.
 |  Our taped and videoed investigation reveals a very different account of his involvement  |
The former footballer said they had given him a small sum of money which he had immediately taken to the police.
In a statement the newspaper said: "The News of the World stands 100% behind our story regarding John Fashanu and match fixing.
"Mr Fashanu's attempts today to justify his actions verge on the ridiculous.
"Our taped and videoed investigation reveals a very different account of his involvement.
"Our dossier of evidence is available to the authorities.
"Furthermore, should Mr Fashanu's lawyers wish to pursue us, we are happy to accommodate them."
The newspaper said Fashanu named Premiership and international players who he paid to help throw games.
| It got to the point where I was saying I could walk on the moon |
But he told BBC Radio 5 Live: "What happened was, we had known for some time that the News of the World have basically been trying to do a sting on John Fashanu. "We had got the information, that is myself and my manager, quite some time ago."
He said he had attended on request two meetings with three Indian men, who asked him to rig matches in the Middle East.
"I needed to get some form of evidence against them as well.
Intrigue
"Luckily, they gave me, after me saying yes I can do this, yes we can do that, yes I can do everything.
"It got to the point where I was saying I could walk on the moon."
Fashanu said he had been given a "small sum of money" which he offered to police and made a statement.
Scotland Yard said on Sunday: "A 40-year-old attended a north London police station at 9pm last night and made a statement to police."
FA spokesman Adrian Bevington said: "Obviously these are allegations in a newspaper which we will give consideration to over the next few days.
"If there is evidence the News of the World want to bring to our attention we will look at that closely and decide what action to take.
"These are particular allegations involving a particular individual and we would like to clarify the facts before commenting further."
 Fashanu denies any wrongdoing |
Describing the meetings, Fashanu added: "To be honest, I was quite intrigued as to where we were actually going with this whole thing because it was getting so ludicrous in the end. "We were talking about getting hold of players like Ronaldo and Zico, and it was getting quite ridiculous."
Fashanu, along with fellow footballers Bruce Grobbelaar and Hans Segers, was cleared of match-fixing allegations in a criminal trial at Winchester Crown Court in 1997.
He made his name at Wimbledon and helped them win the FA Cup in 1988.
After hanging up his boots, he became co-presenter of Gladiators with Ulrika Jonsson.
He was back on TV screens earlier this year, starring in the ITV1 hit, I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.
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