by lakes10 » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:22 pm
Uefa looks at match-fixing claims
Uefa has given a 96-page report to Interpol alleging that 15 games in a variety of competitions were fixed.
The matches are thought to have been qualifiers for Euro 2008, the Champions League, Uefa Cup and the Intertoto Cup and are not before July 2005.
The BBC's sports news correspondent Nigel Adderley said: "We understand that Uefa's suspicions were based purely on unusual betting patterns.
"None of the 16 finalists at Euro 2008 are involved in the investigation."
Interview: Former FA compliance officer Graham Bean
He added: "It appears that many of the games on the list will be from the early rounds of these competitions which do not contain any really high-profile teams."
The story was reported in German magazine Der Spiegel.
The magazine alleges that the vast majority of clubs involved come from countries in eastern and south-eastern Europe, with Bulgaria, Georgia, Serbia, Croatia and the Baltics among those named.
Graham Bean, the former police officer who used to head up the Football Association's compliance unit, told BBC World Service: "They are exceptionally serious allegations if the stories are correct but they will be extremely difficult to investigate.
This is clearly very serious and potentially one of the most serious things that has happened in world football.
Graham Bean
"Clearly Uefa, for them to pass this report across, do have some evidence of some kind that would suggest has come down the route of betting patterns or individuals rolling over and telling them what they know.
"Nevertheless if that is the case they still need to get corroborative evidence to prove what has supposedly gone on.
"If the evidence is there and football wants to take this on and deal with this properly with the police, then the simple fact is the punishments that should be imposed on any clubs or individuals found guilty should be extremely excessive.
"There is so much money involved now, not only in football but in the betting industry, whereby you can get a bet on anything, it clearly opens it up to corruption if a betting syndicate can drop on the right person.
"I can't remember anything happening on this scale before.
"For something of this magnitude and these type of games then this is clearly very serious and potentially one of the most serious things that has happened in world football."
