Corruption!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Match-fixing: Champions League tie played in England 'was fixed'
A Champions League tie played in England is one of 380 matches across Europe investigators say was fixed.
European police did not reveal the identity of the match they believe was corrupt in England.
But Europol did say that they had uncovered an organised crime syndicate based in Asia that was co-ordinating the operation.
Some 425 match officials, club officials, players and criminals are suspected of being involved.
At a news conference in The Hague, Netherlands, Europol claimed:

• The fixed Champions League tie in England took place in "last three or four years";
• The identity of that match cannot be revealed due to "ongoing judicial proceedings";
• Other "corrupt" matches included World Cup and European Championship qualifiers and "several top football matches in European leagues";
• In Germany-based matches alone, criminals wagered £13.8m (16m euros) on rigged matches and made £6.9m in profits
• Officials fear this is as the "tip of the iceberg".

Rob Wainwright, director of Europol - the European Union's law enforcement agency, 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.
"We have uncovered an extensive criminal network."

Europol, which has been investigating for 18 months, said suspected matches included World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, two Champions League ties and "several top football matches in European leagues".
In addition to the £13.8m wagered on Germany-based matches, payments of £1.73m are thought to have been paid to those involved. The biggest payment to an individual was £121,000, according to investigators.
Europol believes a crime syndicate based in Asia was liaising with criminal networks throughout Europe. It believes match-fixing has taken place in 15 countries and 50 people have so far been arrested.
Asked specifically about the allegations surrounding the Champions League tie held in England, Wainwright declined to identify the match because of "ongoing judicial proceedings".
However he did say it happened in the last three to four years, before adding: "The focus has been on other countries, not the United Kingdom. However 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."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21319807

I think I could've guessed what match in England it would've been had they not say it took place within the last three-four years (how can they not know?).

[Marc Overmars]

Football.

[LDG]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21319807

I think I could've guessed what match in England it would've been had they not say it took place within the last three-four years (how can they not know?).

Chelsea v Barca?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Nah, I was thinking Liverpool vs Besiktas. It could be Chelsea vs Barca but I don't think the performance was that bad, as history has written it was.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Europol identified this Olympic qualifier between Argentina & Bolivia as one of the suspicious matches http://t.co/RK1xJ5wk @mattslaterbbc 30 minutes ago

Among the 380 dodgy games, is a CL tie played in Eng since '09; Europol says scale of criminality involved is at a new level @mattslaterbbc 37 minutes ago

Europol recap: 380 suspicious games in Europe since '09, 300 more elsewhere, club & country, 425 suspects from 15 countries arrested @mattslaterbbc 39 minutes ago

Armstrong wasn't in the headlines for long.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Actually it's not that surprising.

[Marc Overmars]

The only thing that springs to mind is Chelsea vs Barca but that's only because there was so much coverage of what happened.

The crooks must have done a good job.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Is it that the result has actually been fixed or just that there would be a foul throw before 25 minutes or something obscure like that, which had no real effect on anything important?

Actually given the scale it's probably both.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I think these things tend to escalate - once you do something like 'spotfixing', those who have arranged won't let you go without doing more and more.

[Niall_Quinn]

Doubt it's the Chav/ Barca match - too blatant. That was just severe incompetence. This will be hard to define stuff, like letting one team get away with niggly fouls so they gain an overall advantage. It would be hard to prove on a single match basis and you'd have to look at betting patterns, referees and results over a period of time - like stock market rigging.

I have no doubt EUFA and FIFA are at the heart of this. If you are going to have overtly criminal scum running the game then it will attract all sorts of flies and maggots. Disbanding both these rotten organisations would be a good first step to tackling the corruption and returning football to a sporting status rather than a money circus.

Also, if you are going to let gangsters like Abramovich or thieves like the arabs at city into the game, what do you expect? Of course there will be corruption, this is what these people do. People can stick their heads in the sand and fire up the racist recorded message all they want, but take a look at how these scumbags obtained their wealth and then say they have suddenly changed now they are involved in sport and don't be surprised if you are called naive. Same with our own trash Usmanov, but people are blinded by the cash and don't want to look at the man.

There's this bullshit argument about football clubs as "toys" or a route to respectability. Maybe. But more likely it's about the money, right? Look at city's dodgy sponsorship - how much cash has been laundered through that club already? Football is an ideal laundry and a simple way to move cash across borders. Every major corporation is at it and they are being caught over and over again but nothing is done about it. Goldman Sachs, caught about 10 times in the last decade for major global fraud. They are still in business and still walking through the revolving door in and out of government. What do governments focus on instead? Tax. They want their cut regardless of where the loot came from.

It's actually quite surprising football is clean in any respect.