UPDATE: Three former Whitehawk FC footballers charged following a criminal inquiry into alleged match-fixing have denied conspiring to commit bribery.

Michael Boateng, Hakeem Adelakun and Moses Swaibu all pleaded not guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to one count of bribery and another of plotting to commit the same offence.

The three men are alleged to have conspired together with Krishna Ganeshan and Chann Sankaran, who both pleaded not guilty to three counts of bribery and one of conspiracy to commit bribery.

It is alleged Ganeshan and Sankaran, both originally from Singapore, conspired together with the footballers to commit bribery between November 1 and November 27 last year.

All five defendants, who were charged after an investigation by the National Crime Agency, will stand trial at the same court on May 19.

Former Whitehawk FC players Boateng and Adelakun, both 22 and from Croydon, south London, and Swaibu, 24, of Bermondsey, London, were granted unconditional bail following today's 40-minute hearing.

Ganeshan, of Hougang Avenue, Singapore, and Sankaran, of Hawthorn Road, Hastings, were remanded in custody ahead of their trial, which is expected to run for up to five weeks.