BOCHUM, Germany: A match-fixing ring with more than 200 suspected members fixed or tried to fix around 200 matches across Europe, including three in the Champions League, in what UEFA called the biggest betting scandal in Europe.
Bochum state prosecutor Andreas Bachmann said at a news conference on Friday initial estimates put the illegal gains at about 10 million euros ($14.85 million) but he added that the figure was just “the tip of the iceberg.”
Police in Germany, Britain, Austria and Switzerland cracked down on the ring on Thursday, staging simultaneous raids that resulted in 15 arrests in Germany and two in Switzerland.
A City of London spokeswoman said in a statement: “Following a request from German law enforcement officers, City of London police assisted in the execution of a search warrant in the Greater London area on Thursday.” She added no arrests had been made and just one property was searched.
Officers also seized one million euros ($1.49 million) in cash or goods as part of the investigation into the suspected manipulation of games across nine European leagues. Some 50 properties were searched in the four countries.
“We at (European soccer’s governing body) UEFA are stunned by the magnitude of this scandal,” UEFA representative Peter Limacher told reporters at a Bochum police news conference on Friday.
“This is undoubtedly the biggest match-fixing scandal that European football has ever seen. Now we must do everything to make sure those referees, players and officials are taken to justice.”
Bochum police said 200 people were suspected of involvement in attempts to rig about 200 matches in 2009, some during the current season. Among the games believed to have been manipulated are three Champions League matches and 12 Europa League games, all this year. UEFA said all were early qualifying round games. A qualifying match for the Under-21 European Championship is also under suspicion.Games in nine European countries are believed to have been manipulated, although none in England, Spain, Italy or France. The suspected games in Germany were played in the second-division or lower. Other countries involved are Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia and Austria. The investigation began in January and has been supported by UEFA.
“There was a group of individuals who did or tried to influence matches with money and make illegal profit through the placing of bets,” said Bachmann.
UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino meanwhile said that the Europe’s soccer governing body would be seeking the harshest penalties for those found guilty. “UEFA will be demanding the harshest of sanctions before the competent courts for any individuals, clubs or officials who are implicated in this malpractice, be it under state or sports jurisdiction,” he said.
UEFA has beefed up its early warning system to protect against illegal betting and match fixing and President Michel Platini has described those issues as the greatest problem facing European football.
Limacher said the arrests were proof that the detection system was working. “We feel a certain satisfaction but on the other side we are deeply affected by the scope of game manipulations by international gangs,” Limacher said.
Media reports in Berlin said that two Croatian brothers convicted in Germany’s match-fixing scandal in 2005 were among those arrested Thursday and the lawyer for one confirmed the report.
In 2005, Germany was rocked by a betting scandal involving Bundesliga referee Robert Hoyzer, who rigged matches as part of an international illegal betting gang and was sentenced to two years and five months in prison.
“Even if the German professional football is only partly involved we will fully support the effort to expose this,” German League chief Reinhard Rauball said on Friday. “We owe it to the fans to do everything within our power to offer a clean competition.”
