Footaholic
12 years ago
Some choice comments by the sky posters:
"It might be better for football if we banned betting with anything to do with it. Results, scorers, corners, throw ins - you can bet on almost anything. It's hardly surprising that it appeals to corrupt syndicates, when we are all being encouraged to do it via advertising media." - THIS is something I STRONGLY AGREE WITH. Betting has infiltrated every facet of the game and is one of the greatest problems in football IMO.
"Over the last 30+ years of going to football there have been so many times where I've thought......What happened there, why was that decision given etc....Who knows if it was a fix or just one of those things."
"Always thought the amount of money in football was criminal. Had hoped that it wouldn't extend to this, though. Wonder whether it's the tip of the iceberg..."
"Football is corrupt, more so now than ever. It is driven by business not sport. The football is just a sideshow."
I know we try our best to ignore the massive elephant in the room but every once in a while we are reminded of how corrupt the beautiful game has become.
"The European police agency (Europol) has revealed that a wide-ranging investigation into match fixing has uncovered more than 380 suspicious matches. These games include World Cup and European Championship qualifiers and two UEFA Champions League games, one of which was in England.
Europol's chief Rob Wainwright said the investigation found "match fixing activity on a scale we have not seen before".
Wainwright revealed the probe uncovered around £7million in betting profits and £1.27m in bribes to players and officials and has already led to several prosecutions.The investigation identified about 425 corrupt officials, players and serious criminals in 15 countries and 50 arrests have been made so far.
Wainwright also stated that the involvement of organised crime "highlights a big problem for the integrity of football in Europe" with Asian gambling cartels identified as part of the match fixing operation.
He said: "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."
Source: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8470654/Europol-investigation-uncovers-more-than-380-suspicious-matches