Michael Bailey Two bookmaker's associations close to home have revealed they saw no suspicious betting patterns during Norwich City's now controversial defeat to Derby County at Carrow Road on October 4.

Michael Bailey

Two bookmaker's associations close to home have revealed they saw no suspicious betting patterns during Norwich City's now controversial defeat to Derby County at Carrow Road on October 4.

The European Sports Security Association (ESSA) and the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) both released statements yesterday to announce their members found no irregular betting activities and no reason to suspect anything inappropriate during the Championship fixture a fortnight ago.

ESSA, whose members are leading online sports book operators in Europe, was originally set up after a betting scandal in Germany three years ago known as the Hoyzer affair - named after referee Robert Hoyzer, who confessed to trying to fix matches in Germany's league and cup competitions in January 2005.

"Our association comprises of the leading online sports book operators in Europe and along with the ABB, who are an associate member, we are working together to contribute to sports being clean and free of corruption," said the organisation's secretary general Khalid Ali. "After a thorough investigation, I'm pleased to report that none of our members found anything unusual about the Norwich City v Derby County game."

The ABB acts as representation for the country's high street bookmakers, including independents and national chains and also found no suspicious behaviour concerning the game.

However the Football Association's investigation is likely to centre around betting markets in Asia, where reports of irregular betting patterns were first uncovered.