February 4, 2013
The beautiful game's ugly underside was exposed on Monday as one of Europe's senior crime fighters revealed hundreds of games are under investigation in what he described as "a sad day for European football."
Recent match-fixing
scandals have centered on South Korea and South Africa, but Europol
believes the highest levels of the game are now no longer safe with
alleged corruption in two Champions League matches discovered, including
one played in England, with 680 games in all being probed across the
globe.
"This is the work of a
suspected organized crime syndicate based in Asia and operated with
criminal networks around Europe," Rob Wainwright, director of European
law enforcement agency Europol, told reporters, following its 18-month
probe.
"It is clear to us this
is the biggest-ever investigation into suspected match-fixing in Europe.
It has yielded major results which we think have uncovered a big
problem for the integrity of football in Europe. We have uncovered an
extensive criminal network."
Read:Valcke- Match-fixing is a soccer disease
A total of 380 games in
Europe -- including World Cup and European Championship qualifiers --
have been deemed suspicious, with 425 match and club officials and
criminals involved from 15 different countries.
The Champions League
match in England, which took place in the "last three or four years", is
now subject to "ongoing judicial proceedings."
It is estimated that €16
million ($21.7m) had been bet on matches by criminals, yielding an €8
million ($10.8m) profit, with the highest single bribe of €140,000 paid
in Austria.
Read: South African soccer chief suspended
Wainwright will be writing to UEFA president Michel Platini to inform him of Europol's findings.
"I'm a committed
football fan," added Europol's director of European law enforcement
agency. "I'm encouraged by the serious way many football administrators
are taking it and by the results of this investigation."
A further 300 matches outside of Europe, including in South America and Africa, are also under suspicion.
Most of the
international level football matches involved were with national teams
in Africa, Asia, Central and South America -- including two World Cup
qualifiers in Africa and one in South America.
"CAF does not intend to
take any action until receipt of the full disclosed information to be
made available to us," said the Confederation of African Football (CAF)
in a statement.
"Second, CAF will take
action if the fixed matches fall within our jurisdiction at the
continental level, and national when required."
Last month FIFA general
secretary Jerome Valcke branded match-fixing a "disease" in an interview
with just weeks after lifetime bans were handed to 41 South Korean
players found guilty of prearranging matches.
The president of the
South African Football Association was suspended in December ahead of an
investigation into match-fixing in the country prior to it hosting the
2010 World Cup.
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