Clubs named in match-fixing scam

Nyon, Switzerland: Five clubs in Albania, Latvia, Slovenia and Hungary are suspected in European football's biggest match-fixing investigation, Uefa said yesterday.

The European football body identified the clubs as KF Tirana, FC Dinaburg, KS Vilaznia, NK IB Ljubljana and Honved and said they allegedly fixed seven qualifying round games in the Champions League and Europa League between July 16 and August 6.

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino described match-fixing as a "cancer we need to eradicate."

He said the seven matches were among 40 in continental club competitions previously identified as being under suspicion. They also figure in about 200 suspect matches being investigated in a criminal probe led from Bochum, Germany.

Infantino said Uefa had also opened its own investigation into the activities of three referees and one official connected to Uefa. No member of Uefa's administrative staff is suspected, he said.

"We don't know if this is the end of the story," Infantino said.

Cooperating

Uefa is cooperating with the Bochum prosecutor's office which has targeted domestic league matches across nine countries.

German-based betting syndicates are suspected of bribing players, coaches, referees and other officials to fix games and the suspected leaders are believed to have made at least $10 million (Dh36.7 million).

Police arrested 15 people in Germany last week, including Ante Sapina, a Croatian national who was convicted in Germany's match-fixing scandal in 2005 that involved referee Robert Hoyzer. Another man was arrested in Croatia on Tuesday.

Uefa officials met with national association leaders from the nine countries — Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey — to share information about the investigation yesterday.

"At the start people were certainly shocked about the magnitude (of the scandal)," Infantino said after the three-hour summit at Uefa headquarters.

"At the end of the meeting there was much more reassurance because we are working together."

Wolfgang Niersbach, general secretary of the German FA, said authorities in Bochum needed to be given time.

"And the full truth must come out, no matter how bitter it is, and the sanctions will be very hard," Niersbach said.

Belgian FA general secretary Jean-Marie Philips said the nine were confident in Uefa's handling of the investigation.

In a joint statement, UEFA promised strong action against any player, referee or club official implicated.

"He will be out of football, this is very, very clear," Infantino said.

UEFA Match-Fixing List

Champions League: Second Qualifying Round