THREE soccer stars accused of match-fixing were waiting last night to see whether they are to be tried again after a jury failed to reach a verdict.
Bruce Grobbelaar and Hans Segers were said by their lawyers to be "extremely disappointed" after the jury remained deadlocked despite almost 11 hours of deliberations.
Along with the Gladiators television presenter John Fashanu they walked from the court at Winchester, after waiting several hours to learn their seven-week trial had come to nothing.
In a dramatic ending to the trial the jury of eight men and three women said they could not even reach a majority decision on any charge against any defendant.
The Crown Prosecution Service will now consider whether to go ahead with a re-trial for the footballers and a Malaysian businessman, Mr Heng Suan Lim, who had denied conspiring to give and accept corrupt payments to influence or attempt to influence the outcome of football matches.
The total bill for the trial is likely to exceed £700,000. If a retrial is ordered, the costs are likely to head toward £2 million.
Grobbelaar's solicitor, Mr David Hewitt, said: "Bruce is extremely disappointed that after nearly 2 1/2 years this matter has not been put to rest.
"We had hoped for a positive result, but it was not to be. Bruce maintains his innocence as he has throughout." He claimed that one thing to emerge during the trial was that Grobbelaar had never thrown nor attempted to throw a football match in his life.
"We can only await the Crown's decision on a re-trial. In the meantime the enormous pressure on Bruce and his family continues."
He said neither Grobbelaar nor his wife, Debbie, would be giving any interviews and asked the media to respect their privacy, "and give them the opportunity to recover from the trauma of this trial".
The soccer stars left one after another, each accompanied by his wife, who with them had shared the ordeal of waiting two days for a decision from the jury.
The former Liverpool and Southampton goalkeeper, Grobbelaar (39), the former Aston Villa and Wimbledon striker, Fashanu (34), and the former Wimbledon goalkeeper, Segers (35), first appeared in the dock on January 14th. Together with Mr Lim (31), they denied prosecution allegations that they had been part of a plot to throw games for a Far Eastern betting syndicate.
The jury had to reach verdicts on two alleged conspiracies.
The first charge, against Mr Lim, Fashanu and Segers, claimed that between February 1st, 1991, and November 9th, 1994, they conspired to give and corruptly accept gifts of money to influence or attempt to influence the outcome of football matches.
A second count, against Mr Lim, Fashanu and Grobbelaar, alleged a conspiracy in similar terms between November 1st, 1992, and November 9th, 1994.
A final count, against Grobbelaar alone, accused him of corruptly accepting £2,000 from Mr Christopher Vincent for improperly influencing or attempting to influence the outcome of afoot"ball match or matches.
The jury first retired on Monday at 11.05 a.m. and spent the night at their homes before returning to court yesterday.
They had been out for 10 hours and 59 minutes when they sent a note to Mr Justice Tuckey saying they were unable to reach a unanimous or majority decision.
As the defendants waited in the dock to hear the verdict their lawyers broke the news to them of the jury's indecision.