Bribery Scandal Rocks Britain : Soccer: Tabloid accuses goalkeeper Grobbelaar of accepting money to throw games in the English Premier League.

The British sports world was rocked Wednesday by published allegations against a renowned soccer goalkeeper, which, if proven, would constitute one of the greatest athletic scandals here in a generation.

The best-selling Sun newspaper, an English tabloid, accused Bruce Grobbelaar, a goalie who was a national star during 13 seasons with Liverpool, of accepting bribes to throw certain matches.

Grobbelaar, 37, Wednesday postponed a flight to Zimbabwe to play with that country’s national team, in order to remain in England and deny the charges raised by the paper.

The Sun said it has film of him accepting money and admitting he threw a game.

“I’ve never attempted to throw a game in my life,” Grobbelaar told the Sun when confronted with its evidence.

The central allegation made by the Sun is that Grobbelaar received about $65,000 for fixing a match last season--before he transferred from Liverpool to Southampton.

The Sun claimed a shadowy Far Eastern syndicate netted more than $4.5 million in betting on a match in which Liverpool, with Grobbelaar in goal, lost to Newcastle, 3-0.

The newspaper also said Grobbelaar attempted unsuccessfully to throw three other games, including last Saturday’s Southampton-Manchester City match, which ended in a 3-3 draw.

Southampton director Lawrie McMenemy said Wednesday that Grobbelaar had emphatically denied the accusations.

The English Football Assn., the sport’s governing body in England, launched an “urgent and thorough” investigation of Grobbelaar, one of the highest-profile players in the Premier League and winner of more than a dozen major trophies while at Liverpool.

Referee Gerald Ashby, who was in charge of the Newcastle-Liverpool game, said he was “absolutely amazed” by the newspaper’s claims, adding: “There was nothing in the game that raised any suspicions in mind.”

The Sun printed Wednesday what it claimed was a still from a videotape in which it said Grobbelaar is shown accepting an envelope containing about 2,000 pounds sterling (about $3,200) from a former business partner. The partner acted on behalf of the newspaper, which said it conducted a two-month investigation of the soccer star’s conduct.

Born in Durban, South Africa, Grobbelaar moved to Zimbabwe with his parents when he was a child. His Zimbabwe citizenship enables him to play for that country in international competitions such a the African Nations Cup and the World Cup.

Grobbelaar played for the Vancouver Whitecaps in the North American Soccer League before being signed by Liverpool, where he developed a reputation as a colorful, popular player, often given to clowning on the field.

The last major soccer bribery case in England was in 1965, when several players, including one English national team player, were jailed and banned from the sport for life because of their role in a match-fixing scandal.