Police expose Europe’s biggest match-fixing ring
Bochum state prosecutor Andreas Bachmann said at a news conference on Friday initial estimates put the illegal gains at about 10 million euros ($14.85 million) but he added that the figure was just "the tip of the iceberg."
Police in Germany, Britain, Austria and Switzerland cracked down on the ring on Thursday, staging simultaneous raids that resulted in 15 arrests in Germany and two in Switzerland.
Officers also seized one million euros ($1.49 million) in cash or goods as part of the investigation into the suspected manipulation of games across nine European leagues. Some 50 properties were searched in the four countries.
Bochum police said 200 people were suspected of involvement in attempts to rig about 200 matches in 2009, some during the current season. Among the games believed to have been manipulated are three Champions League matches and 12 Europa League games, all this year. UEFA said all were early qualifying round games. A qualifying match for the Under-21 European Championship is also under suspicion.Games in nine European countries are believed to have been manipulated, although none in England, Spain, Italy or France. The suspected games in Germany were played in the second-division or lower. Other countries involved are Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia and Austria. The investigation began in January and has been supported by UEFA.
UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino meanwhile said that the Europe's soccer governing body would be seeking the harshest penalties for those found guilty. "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," he said.
In 2005, Germany was rocked by a betting scandal involving Bundesliga referee Robert Hoyzer, who rigged matches as part of an international illegal betting gang and was sentenced to two years and five months in prison.
"Even if the German professional football is only partly involved we will fully support the effort to expose this," German League chief Reinhard Rauball said on Friday. "We owe it to the fans to do everything within our power to offer a clean competition"; Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.