Uefa to Investigate Match-Fixing Claims
4th December, 2007
Uefa is investigating claims of match-fixing after receiving a 96-page report from Interpol documenting 15 suspected European games that it believes were fixed.
The highlighted matches are thought to be from Champions League, Intertoto Cup, Uefa Cup or the Euro 2008 qualifiers, all having been played this season. Most of the teams involved are reportedly from south-eastern Europe, specifically Croatia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Serbia, and the Baltic countries.
It has been suspected that the matches were rigged by large betting syndicated in the Far East worth millions of Euros. Uefa, football’s governing body in Europe, confirmed that the matches were played this season, but would not name specific clubs or countries in order to keep the investigation feasible.
Earlier this week, UEFA opened an investigation into an Intertoto Cup fixture between Bulgarians Cherno More and Macedonia's Makedonija on July 7, which Cherno More won 4-0. The Bulgarian club have strongly denied any wrongdoing. "It's an extremely unpleasant case but we think that the charges are unwarranted," Cherno More's lawyer Mihail Statev said at a news conference on Tuesday.
