Match Fixing in Football
Match fixing has unfortunately become a big problem across all sports. This article will look at some of the biggest match fixing scandals in Football.
Robert Hoyzer
In 2005 Robert Hoyzer, a former referee, was found guilty and received a sentence of two years in prison. He was found guilty of accepting money in order to fix matches for Ante Sapina, a Croatian bar owner. Hoyzer fixed matches in second and third tier German matches as well as high-profile games where Bundesliga clubs participated. It has been reported that Hoyzer received around €67 000 as well as a television set for his part in fixing these matches. Hoyzer fixed these matches by awarding controversial red cards and penalties in multiple matches, and even betting at the safest Australian betting apps wouldn’t have saved punters from this rogue refs actions.
Marseilles Scandal
The Marseilles match fixing scandal of 1993 involved this team being stripped of their Ligue 1 win and were banned from defending the Championship League Double title. The team was ready to play in the Champions League against Milan when their mid-fielder Jean-Jacques Eydelie contacted three of the players on the opposing team offering them an amount of cash to “take it easy” on the team and to prevent them from being injured. One of the team members refused and the French authorities were informed and this resulted in Bernard Tapie, the president of the club being imprisoned for two years and Eydelie was banned from football for two years.
Fake Togo Team
In 2010 the Gulf nation of Bahrain played against Togo where they won three goals to zero. The Bahrain coach, Josef Hickersberger conveyed his surprise at the Togolese’s team lack of fitness. This news got back to the Togo FA who was shocked, as they had no knowledge of this team or any of the players. It unfolded that the former Togo coach, Tchanile Bana had put together a fake team and this team were given around $60 000. The money paid to them came from an international syndicate, but as the investigation progressed it was found that FA officials were also involved. It has also been thought that this was setup by a South-East Asian syndicate who had wagered a fortune on the outcome of the game.
Ghost Matches
Match fixing is a complicated process and over the last few years there has been an increase in “ghost” matches. A match that is recorded and reported on, but never actually happened. In 2015 a match was “played” between FC Slutsk and Shakhtyor Soligorsk, two teams from Belarus. Two well-known betting agencies accepted bets and made payouts on a match that was never actually played. The result of the match, 2-1, was posted on both the teams’ sites and even an official report from the Slutsk team was given to both the betting agencies. The so-called fixture was then investigated and it was claimed by Shakhtyor that their site had been hacked.
Spiked Water
In 2010 during an Italian third division match between Cremonense and Paganese some of the team members became lethargic during the game. One of the players almost had an accident on his way home because he almost fell asleep. After some investigating their goalkeeper, Marco Paolini, had spiked his team’s water with some kind of sedative so that he could fix the match. He was banned from playing for five years.
It is unfortunate that there are so many of these match-fixing scandals across all sports, not just football. It has become an everyday occurrence and even high profile teams and players are involved in these scandals.