Football: UEFA probing 40 ‘match-fixing’ cases

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UEFA probing 40 ‘match-fixing’ cases

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:16:37 GMT

The Union of European Football Associations has planned to investigate
40 cases of suspected match-fixing in the Champions League and UEFA
Cup.

Most of the cases were from eastern countries of the continent and
involved games in the early qualifying rounds of the tournaments,
according to Peter Limacher, UEFA’s head of disciplinary services.

"It is mainly clubs from eastern Europe that are being investigated,"
Limacher told the World Sports Law Report conference.

Last year, the number of games being investigated was 25, and UEFA set
up a six-man special investigation unit to examine corruption in their
competitions.

Limacher said there were now 40 games where suspicious betting
patterns had been identified, 15 of those in the last two years.

In April, UEFA banned Macedonian club FK Pobeda from European
competitions for eight years after match-fixing against Armenian side
FC Pyunik in 2004.

AGB/SC/MD