Match-fixing blight stuns European football family

The mystery surrounding a European police match-fixing investigation into a Champions League game in England has deepened after it emerged neither the FA nor Uefa were aware of any such probe.

Rob Wainwright, director of Europol — the EU’s law enforcement agency, told a news conference yesterday that the match which took place “in the last three to four years” was one of 380 under investigation.

Europol said a total of 425 match officials, club officials, players, and serious criminals, from more than 15 countries, are suspected of being involved in attempts to fix matches.

Wainwright refused to name which English Champions League match in particular due to “ongoing judicial proceedings” — and the FA, which as the governing body in the country should be alerted, is also at a loss to know which one.

An FA spokesman: “The FA are not aware of any credible reports into suspicious Champions League fixtures in England, nor has any information been shared with us. While the Champions League comes under Uefa jurisdiction, the FA, alongside the Premier League, Football League and Conference, monitor markets for the top seven leagues and three major cup competitions in England and take matters of integrity in football extremely seriously.”

It is understood Uefa is similarly unaware of an investigation into an Champions League match in England. A Europol spokesman said he was unable to comment when asked why neither the FA nor Uefa were informed.

Investigators told the news conference an Asia-based crime syndicate is behind the fixing of the 380 matches, along with World Cup and European Championship qualifiers and “several top football matches in European leagues”.

Wainwright said: “This is the work of a suspected organised crime syndicate based in Asia and operated with criminal networks around Europe.

“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.”

Wainwright revealed the scale of the corruption in Germany, where £13.8 million (€16 million) was wagered on matches in the country with payments of £1.73m (€2m) believed to have been paid to those involved.

Overall, Europol claim match-fixing had taken place in 15 countries with 50 people arrested to date.

Wainwright added: “We were surprised by the scale generally of the criminal enterprise and just how widespread it was.

“It would be naive and complacent of those in the UK to think such a criminal conspiracy does not involve the English game and all the football in Europe.”

Uefa confirmed it would cooperate with the investigation and stressed it had a zero-tolerance approach to match-fixing.

It added in a statement: “As part of the fight against the manipulation of matches, Uefa is already cooperating with the authorities on these serious matters as part of its zero tolerance policy towards match-fixing in our sport.

“Once the details of these investigations are in Uefa’s hands, then they will be reviewed by the appropriate disciplinary bodies in order that the necessary measures are taken.”