Do you think match fixing is confined to the game of cricket alone? Then, you are wrong. According to an official report, Champions League match at Liverpool is one of the 680 games that are being probed currently.
A Liverpool spokesman said: “Nobody from [the police] has contacted anyone at Liverpool Football Club.”
Europol chief Rob Wainwright: 'This is a sad day for European football.”
Hungarian prosecutor Laszlo Angeli added: “One Hungarian member, who was below the Singapore head, was in touch with Hungarian refs who could then attempt to swing matches.
“Accomplices would then place bets on the internet with bookmakers in Asia.”
Official investigators informed that one bet could constitute of 50 suspects in 10 different nations. Executives and players could pocket 100,000 euros for fixing a single bet.
Director of Europol Rob Wainwright, left, said: “This is the work of a suspected organised crime syndicate based in Asia and operated with criminal networks around Europe.
This is the biggest-ever investigation into match-fixing in Europe. It has yielded major results, which we think have uncovered a big problem for the integrity of football in Europe.”
It was few weeks before that the Interpol admonished that match-fixing generates “hundreds of billions of euros” each year.
Secretary general Ronald Noble said finances from unauthorized betting were “on the same scale as the Coca-Cola company”.
The Europol investigation, which also constitutes of Singapore police, was initiated by a German network of “fixers” in 2011.
It revealed about World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, two Champions League ties and “several top football matches in European leagues”.
The fixing advances chiefly contained ties in European divisions over the past 18 months, but the inquiry also covers games before this.
British football critics and players reacted with shock at the revelations. Ex Everton midfielder Kevin Kilbane, above, said: “The sheer size of this is alarming. There is a huge market for betting now, you can get apps on your phone. It is not just about the results of matches.”
During 1994 ex-Liverpool goalie Bruce Grobbelaar went on trial for taking a £40,000 bung to concede goals against Newcastle United.
He was slapped for conspiring to corrupt, along with Wimbledon goalie Hans Segers, ex-Dons striker John Fashanu and Malaysian businessman Heng Suan Lim.
They came clean in November 1997. Back in 2006, some of Italy’s prominent clubs were included in the “Calciopoli” scandal, in which police found six teams had fixed matches by choosing favourable refs. Juventus were stripped of two Serie A titles and relegated to Serie B.
After the Pakistan cricket match-fixing scandal, few players were left bereft of their mobile phones in the dressing room during games – a move which could now be introduced for football.
Europol’s probe has seen 14 people jailed in Germany for a total of 39 years. Criminal charges are also being pressed against the involved in Finland, Hungary, Slovenia and Austria – and there are links to Russia. Findings have been passed to Uefa boss Michel Platini.
