Europol Identify 380 Corrupt Games In Match-Fixing Crackdown, Includes Champions League Match Played In England
By Chris Wright
As part of their Europe-wide crackdown on match-fixing across the continent, Europol investigators have identified 380 football matches they believe to be have been fixed as well as around 425 officials, players and middle-men they believe to be corrupt.
Included in those 380 games is a Champions League match which was played in England in the last four years, though Europol cannot name the fixture in question due to legal reasons.
Speaking in The Hague after an 18-month investigation, Europol say they have uncovered an organised crime syndicate based in Asia that has been pulling the strings for the entire operation with assistance from criminal networks throughout Europe.
They suspect that matches included World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, two Champions League ties and “several top football matches in European leagues” have all been fiddled – with criminals putting around €16 million on rigged matches and making roughly €8 million in profit – though they also fear that this may just be “the tip of the iceberg”.
Of course it’s no surprise that football matches have been fixed. The game is rife with corruption, even at FIFA executive level. It’s just the scale of the whole thing that’s so utterly amazing.
Depending on the kind of evidence that Europol are sitting on, the ramifications of their investigative work could be immense.
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The amount of shady events surrounding CL games and draws go beyond just one match played in England, I imagine.
Fulham vs Krakow in the Europa league a couple of years ago. Benter than a curly wurly on a radiator.
Up
No way, our teams are prity-shitty.
My best guess would be Chelsea-Barca 2009, the “disgrace”-game. I don’t know if refrees were also included in the match-fixing, that was some horribly officiating and would fit the CL and on english soil criteria.
What were the odds on the last sixteen draw for the champions league being the same as the rehearsal again?
milt_palacio, my thoughts exactly, that sending off off Abidal was very questionable it was rigged surely.
Lyon vs Dynamo Zagreb is so obviously fixed and Chelsea Barcelona in 09 was probably fixed too
milt_palacio,
the Barca-Chelsea game was fixed for which side? Abidal sent off unfairly and Barca denied Ballack handball in the box, and Chelsea denied handballs for Eto’o and Pique, finished off by a sublime Iniesta strike… did the Chinese pay for Iniesta’s magical feet as well?
Just so you know, people who fix games don’t put their money on things as close as barca’s win over chelsea. They put money on one team to score more than four or five and pay off the losers. I reckon its gonna be liverpool beating besiktas 8-0. Those fellas barely tried. Fulham vs Krakow wasn’t in the champs league.
ps liverpool fans – i’m not accusing liverpool of anything, i’m accusing besiktas.
@Tom Henning Ovrebo: Got to admit, that was my first thought too.
messi’s career turns out to be a fix? its actually Ronaldo with his legs taped up, boots on his knees and a mask.
[...] Europol kindly gave us some clues yesterday, Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet reckon they’ve nailed which Champions League [...]