One of six players at the centre of the alleged bribery cum match-fixing scandal that hit the camp of the Black Meteors has claimed innocence of the affair. Jonathan Quartey said he was shocked by the entire development "because no one mentioned a match-fixing idea to me" when he received $1000 from some supposed agents dangling a chance of a foreign contract before him. "I was not aware of any such thing and I have said it again and again that I had no knowledge of any attempt to bribe me or some other players to fix the match," Quartey told the Graphic Sports in an interview. The Ashantigold player said, "I am surprised at how the whole issue has turned out. I still find it difficult to understand, but let's hope answers will be found soon." This position, he maintained, was well articulated at last Tuesday's 'hearing' by the Emergency Committee of the GFA when he and his fellow 'lucky few' who benefited from the 'benevolence' of the 'agents', as well as the alleged facilitator, Abukari Damba, appeared before the committee to give their versions of what transpired before Ghana's 2-4 loss to their hosts in the football friendly originally meant for the Black Stars. Damba has since been removed as goalkeepers trainer of the Meteors. He has also been referred to the GFA Disciplinary Committee for further investigation and action. "I told them (the GFA) the same thing because that (bribery) was not what happened," Quartey emphasised. Admitting though of the presence of some foreign nationals introduced to himself and at least five others by the estranged former national goalkeeper, Abukari Damba, before the friendly against Iran in Tehran nearly two weeks ago, Quartey said he was only told that what he received was "shopping money". "Let's wait for the rest of the matter to unfold," he added, reminding himself that he had been asked by responsible officials to be circumspect in talk about the subject. While he waits for the entire 'truth', however, the player will do so in isolation from his ‘partners in crime’ after he lost his place in the Meteors squad that left last Friday for the All Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria. In fact, Quartey did not last the entire game against Iran after he was replaced by Hearts of Oak's Stephen Ofei after more than 70 minutes when the Meteors trailed 4-2. Quartey was key in the Starlets side that won sil¬ver at the African Championship in The Gambia in 2005 and manned the defence when the team played in the World Cup in Peru later the same year. He was also a member of the Under-20 team that failed to reach the latest Africa and World championships. Source: Graphic Sports