Spain continues fight against match-fixing

The local police in Spain arrested football players for alleged involvement in match-fixing.

Spain.- The Spanish police have revealed that 11 people will be arrested and at least three football matches are currently under investigation across the country’s top three divisions. The police investigation follows a complaint regarding match-fixing in Spain made during a game over a year ago.

Authorities said that among those detained, there are active and retired players. The list also includes presidents and directors of a club. “The investigation has established that those under investigation came to arrangements with different players to ‘fix’ at least three games in the first, second and third divisions,” said the police in a statement.

Although the teams weren’t confirmed, the police said in the case of a specific second-division game, more than 14 times the usual amount of money was bet on a match. Bets were made on the outcomes as well as the number of corners awarded to each teams, among other things.

A La Liga spokesman said: “We want to thank the police for the extraordinary work done to dismantle what appears to be an organised criminal group dedicated to obtaining economic benefits through the predetermination of football matches.”

The spokesman said that during the 2018-19 season, La Liga filed eight complaints with the general commissioner of the judicial police for alleged acts related to match-fixing in lower divisions of Spanish football and low-profile friendlies between foreign clubs in Spain. “We have also sent alerts to the general directorate of gaming on 18 football matches for possible identification and sanction of players from lower divisions who could have bet on their competition,” he said. “La Liga continues to fight to eradicate any scourge against fair play in Spanish football.”

Real Valladolid issued a statement

Moreover, Real Valladolid issued a statement in which it says that the club learned of the arrests. “Real Valladolid rejects any type of conduct or fraudulent behaviour, denouncing corruption among individuals, money laundering, criminal organisations or any type of behaviour that originates or could lead to the distortion and corruption of any sports competition.”