LaLiga: Former Spain international Raul Bravo, Borja Fernandez among footballers arrested over match-fixing claims
An operation against several footballers, ex-players including former Spain international Raul Bravo and club executives accused of fixing matches in the first and second divisions was underway in Spain on Tuesday, police and sources said.
In a statement, police said they were in the process of conducting raids in several, unnamed areas and planned to detain 11 people — "retired and active footballers in the first division, active players in the second division and executives of a club."
A source close to the probe, who refused to be named, said that matches were allegedly fixed during this season and the 2017-2018 campaign.
Among them were several games played by Real Valladolid, a club majority-owned by former Brazil striker Ronaldo since September.
The source named several players involved to AFP.
They include Bravo, a 38-year-old former Real Madrid player who once played for Spain, Borja Fernandez who played for first division Real Valladolid, and Carlos Aranda, a retired player who appeared for a string of Spanish clubs.
Samuel Saiz, a Leeds player loaned to Getafe this season, is also allegedly involved as is Inigo Lopez Montana, who played for Extremadura and Deportivo La Coruna in the second division this season.
The president of SD Huesca, another football club that climbed into first division this season before being relegated again, was also targeted.
It was as yet unclear whether they had all been detained.
Those at Huesca "are suspected of having taken part in match-fixing when they were in the second division," the source said.
The suspects are accused of match-fixing, belonging to a criminal gang and money laundering, police said.
They added their months-long investigation had "confirmed that the suspects reached agreements with various players to 'fix' at least three matches in the first, second and third division."
"The match-fixing related to the third division was unsuccessful, forcing the players involved to compensate the loss by doing another in the future," they added.
Corruption in sport
Police said that during one of the suspect matches in the second division, "betting houses registered a cash volume that was up to 14 times higher than normal for this division."
A statement from LaLiga, meanwhile, said it had made an initial complaint in May 2018 after a match between Huesca and Gimnastic de Tarragona (0-1).
It was unclear whether they were talking about the same match.
Javier Tebas, LaLiga's president, told sports daily Marca that LaLiga had been investigating this for over a year.
"It really hurts, because it affects a club I love, but the most important thing is to end corruption in football," Tebas, who was president of Huesca in the 1990s, said.
In a statement, Valladolid said it maintained "its commitment and fight against corruption or any type of illegal act that diminishes the integrity of sporting competitions."
Match-fixing has been a constant issue in Spanish football.
In February 2018, at least 24 people were arrested nationwide in an operation into alleged match-fixing in Spain's lower leagues.
The ring was accused of using players to force situations such as corners or penalties in games in the third and fourth tiers of Spanish football. They would then make bets on these situations.
The conspirators under investigation had connections with China, where the bets were placed.
The no. of foreigners is likely to be reduced by one in the coming season of I-League, Sunando Dhar informed NewsTime. Each club would be allowed to register 5 foreigners and include 4 in the playing squad.
Less goreiforei means more game time for Indian players leading to more exposure and more improvement. Ideally I League should have a rule that clubs must play 3 u23 players and 1 u18 player in every match. If i league is yo be limited as a feeder system to isl teams tgen lets make it a proper feeder system where youngsters get more game minutes under their belt.
4 foreginers for Tier 2 is very high... Should have been 3, since next season it will be official and ISL is goint to take the AFC champ league qualfiers spot & labelled top league .. Probably they will give the AFC spot to Super Cup with all teams playing 4 foreigners...
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LaLiga: Former Spain international Raul Bravo, Borja Fernandez among footballers arrested over match-fixing claims
An operation against several footballers, ex-players including former Spain international Raul Bravo and club executives accused of fixing matches in the first and second divisions was underway in Spain on Tuesday, police and sources said.
In a statement, police said they were in the process of conducting raids in several, unnamed areas and planned to detain 11 people — "retired and active footballers in the first division, active players in the second division and executives of a club."
A source close to the probe, who refused to be named, said that matches were allegedly fixed during this season and the 2017-2018 campaign.
Among them were several games played by Real Valladolid, a club majority-owned by former Brazil striker Ronaldo since September.
The source named several players involved to AFP.
They include Bravo, a 38-year-old former Real Madrid player who once played for Spain, Borja Fernandez who played for first division Real Valladolid, and Carlos Aranda, a retired player who appeared for a string of Spanish clubs.
Samuel Saiz, a Leeds player loaned to Getafe this season, is also allegedly involved as is Inigo Lopez Montana, who played for Extremadura and Deportivo La Coruna in the second division this season.
The president of SD Huesca, another football club that climbed into first division this season before being relegated again, was also targeted.
It was as yet unclear whether they had all been detained.
Those at Huesca "are suspected of having taken part in match-fixing when they were in the second division," the source said.
The suspects are accused of match-fixing, belonging to a criminal gang and money laundering, police said.
They added their months-long investigation had "confirmed that the suspects reached agreements with various players to 'fix' at least three matches in the first, second and third division."
"The match-fixing related to the third division was unsuccessful, forcing the players involved to compensate the loss by doing another in the future," they added.
Corruption in sport
Police said that during one of the suspect matches in the second division, "betting houses registered a cash volume that was up to 14 times higher than normal for this division."
A statement from LaLiga, meanwhile, said it had made an initial complaint in May 2018 after a match between Huesca and Gimnastic de Tarragona (0-1).
It was unclear whether they were talking about the same match.
Javier Tebas, LaLiga's president, told sports daily Marca that LaLiga had been investigating this for over a year.
"It really hurts, because it affects a club I love, but the most important thing is to end corruption in football," Tebas, who was president of Huesca in the 1990s, said.
In a statement, Valladolid said it maintained "its commitment and fight against corruption or any type of illegal act that diminishes the integrity of sporting competitions."
Match-fixing has been a constant issue in Spanish football.
In February 2018, at least 24 people were arrested nationwide in an operation into alleged match-fixing in Spain's lower leagues.
The ring was accused of using players to force situations such as corners or penalties in games in the third and fourth tiers of Spanish football. They would then make bets on these situations.
The conspirators under investigation had connections with China, where the bets were placed.
Only positive thing is that I-League is alive and kicking next season.
Probably they will give the AFC spot to Super Cup with all teams playing 4 foreigners...