In "sad day for football", huge match-fixing ring revealed

THE HAGUE The European Union's law enforcement agency EUROPOL have announced that a total of 380 football games have been fixed in the past several years. They include world and European cup qualifiers, national championships - including Italian and German - but also two UEFA Champions League games. In "sad day for football", huge match-fixing ring revealed Europol Director Rob Wainwright held a news conference in the Netherlands on Monday to say that the 18-month investigation uncovered that 425 persons from 15 countries were involved, and that proceedings from illegal betting and bribes reached eight million euros. "This is the work of a suspected organized crime syndicate based in Asia and operated with criminal networks around Europe," he specified. "This is a sad day for football," Wainwright said, and added: "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." Asked about the allegations surrounding the Champions League tie held in England, Wainwright declined to identify the match because of "ongoing judicial proceedings", but said it was played "three or four years ago". He also noted that while many fixed matches were already known, the Europol investigation showed widespread involvement of organized crime in rigging games. Europol on Monday did not identify any of the suspects, players or matches involved, citing the ongoing investigations. The news conference in The Hague on Monday (Tanjug) Beta

In "sad day for football", huge match-fixing ring revealed

Europol Director Rob Wainwright held a news conference in the Netherlands on Monday to say that the 18-month investigation uncovered that 425 persons from 15 countries were involved, and that proceedings from illegal betting and bribes reached eight million euros.

"This is the work of a suspected organized crime syndicate based in Asia and operated with criminal networks around Europe," he specified.

"This is a sad day for football," Wainwright said, and added:

"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."

Asked about the allegations surrounding the Champions League tie held in England, Wainwright declined to identify the match because of "ongoing judicial proceedings", but said it was played "three or four years ago".

He also noted that while many fixed matches were already known, the Europol investigation showed widespread involvement of organized crime in rigging games.

Europol on Monday did not identify any of the suspects, players or matches involved, citing the ongoing investigations.