Europe stunned by football match-rigging bombshell

November 21, 2009

European football was reeling on Saturday from what one UEFA official called the continent’s worst ever match-fixing scandal, with 200 games under suspicion of having been rigged in nine countries.

A 200-strong band operating across Europe is suspected of swaying matches in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Austria, prosecutors in Germany said on Friday.

By bribing players, coaches, referees and officials to influence matches, the gang is thought to have earned as much as 10 million euros (15 million dollars) in huge bets with bookmakers in Europe and Asia, primarily in China.

“But this is just the tip of the iceberg,” investigating prosecutor Andreas Bachmann said.

“UEFA will be demanding the harshest of sanctions … for any individuals, clubs or officials who are implicated in this malpractice,” UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

The games include three Champions League ties, 12 matches in the Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup, one qualifying game for the under-21 European championship. All took place this season.

UEFA said it would give details of the matches at a later stage, but the 15 at European level involved early qualifying round games, while the rest were under the jurisdictions of national football associations.

It said that the list included 40 matches that UEFA had previously said were under suspicion.

“Without doubt this is the biggest scam there has ever been in European football,” UEFA’s match-fixing specialist Peter Limacher said in Germany, where the probe was organised.

“We are deeply shocked by the scale of match-fixing through international gangs. We now have to do everything possible to ensure that referees, players and officials implicated face justice,” Limacher told reporters.

Around 300 police carried out around 50 raids on Thursday in Germany, Britain, Switzerland and Austria, arresting 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland. More than a million euros in cash and property were seized.

Two of those arrested in Thursday included two Croatian brothers living in Berlin, Ante and Milan Sapina, who were at the centre of a match-fixing scandal that rocked Germany in 2004, newspapers said.

Investigators are also looking at 32 matches in Germany, including four in the second division, three in the third, 23 games in regional leagues and two under-19 clashes.

Elsewhere, 29 matches in Turkey from the first division downwards, 14 in Croatia’s first division, 13 in Hungary’s first division, eight in Bosnia-Hercegovina’s top flight and 11 in Austria’s first and second leagues.

In Slovenia, seven games in the first division have raised suspicions, as have 22 league games in the Swiss second division and six friendlies, plus 17 in Belgium’s second division, prosecutors said.

They warned that the list could get longer.

The German scandal saw referee Robert Hoyzer jailed in 2005 after admitting receiving almost 70,000 euros (104,000 dollars) and a plasma television from the Croatian brothers to throw games.

The worst European match-fixing scandal to date was the Calciopoli affair in 2006 involving five Serie A clubs, referees and high-ranked Italian football federation (FIGC) officials.

It resulted in heavy punishments for top-flight clubs including Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina, with Juventus stripped of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 league titles.

BERLIN (AFP)

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Europe match-fixing probe targets 200 games

November 21, 2009

In what one UEFA official called European football’s worst ever match-fixing scandal, investigators said Friday criminals may have netted 10 million euros rigging 200 games in nine countries.

They include three Champions League ties, 12 matches in the Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup, one qualifying game for the under-21 European championship and four from the German second division.

All the games took place this season.

UEFA said it would give details of the matches later, but the 15 at European level involved early qualifying round games, while the rest were under the jurisdictions of national football associations.

It said that the list included 40 matches that UEFA had previously said were under suspicion.

By bribing players, coaches, referees and officials to influence matches, the criminals are then believed to have earned millions by placing huge bets on the games with bookmakers in Europe and Asia, primarily in China.

“Without doubt this is the biggest scam there has ever been in European football,” UEFA’s match-fixing specialist Peter Limacher said in Germany, where the probe was organised.

“But this is just the tip of the iceberg,” investigating prosecutor Andreas Bachmann said.

“UEFA will be demanding the harshest of sanctions before the competent courts for any individuals, clubs or officials who are implicated in this malpractice, be it under state or sports jurisdiction,” UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

Investigators are also looking at 32 matches in Germany, including two in the second division, three in the third, 23 games in regional leagues and two under-19 clashes.

They warned that the list could get longer.

The 2004 German scandal saw referee Robert Hoyzer sentenced to two years and five months behind bars after admitting receiving almost 70,000 euros (104,000 dollars) and a plasma television from a Croatian mafia ring to throw games.

One of the worst European match-fixing scandal to date was the Calciopoli affair in 2006 involving five Serie A clubs, referees and high-ranked Italian football federation (FIGC) officials.

It resulted in heavy punishments for top-flight clubs including Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina, with Juventus stripped of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 league titles.

In 2005, Brazilian referee Edilson Pereira de Carvalho was banned for life after admitting match fixing. It culminated in the results of 11 league matches he had officiated being cancelled.

In 1999, four men were jailed for 12 years for plotting to sabotage an English Premiership match between Charlton and Liverpool in a multi-million pound Far Eastern betting scam by tampering with stadium floodlights.

BOCHUM, Germany (AFP)

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Football barometer of ´serious´ racism: UN expert

April 22, 2009

GENEVA (AFP) – Football is proving to be a valuable barometer of the serious impact of racism and xenophobia in society, the UN’s expert on racism has told AFP after a rash of incidents at stadiums.

Githu Muigai, the United Nations Special Rapporteur against racism, highlighted racist chanting during last weekend’s match between Juventus and Inter Milan in Italy, directed at Inter’s Mario Balotelli.

The teenage Italian under-21 international forward is of Ghanaian origin.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Muigai observed.

“We know that repeatedly, this year alone football governing bodies must have fined or reprimanded more than a dozen teams on the basis of the racism of spectators.”

“This to me is a good barometer about what’s happening at the heart of society and I think it means there is a lot of work to be done,” Muigai said on the sidelines of a UN conference against racism.

On Tuesday, that conference adopted a declaration against racism and xenophobia in the world.

It included a paragraph calling on world football’s governing body FIFA to introduce a “visible theme on non-racism” at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Muigai said talks were underway with FIFA.

He underlined the symbolism that an educational campaign would carry internationally if it was kicked off in South Africa, the former home of the “Whites-only” apartheid regime.

But the Kenyan lawyer also warned against dismissing racism among some fans as a political problem linked to right-wing groups that were out of tune with the rest of society.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “If you take what people say and see how people react in football stadiums, then you know that at the heart of society we still have serious problems we have to address.”

European football’s governing body UEFA has been trying to get footballing nations to clamp down on racist incidents that have marred matches in several countries in recent years.

On Tuesday, UEFA chief Michel Platini revealed that European football bosses were considering introducing an immediate sanction for the first time, by suspending matches for 10 minutes if fans take part in racist chanting.

“It would take courage but the decision of UEFA would be to stop the match for 10 minutes if there is racist chanting and to call it off altogether if it continued,” Platini said.

Juventus has apologised for the chanting by a section of the crowd, and the club was ordered to play a match behind closed doors as punishment for the incident in Turin on Saturday.