Match-fixing fears in amateur Swedish Football

Cancellation of football matches around the world has seen a spike in the number of people betting on amateur matches in the country.

Sweden.- Amateur Swedish football has been attracting huge bets in recent days, with fears of possible match-fixing.

With the Coronavirus outbreak cancelling most sporting matchups around the world, sports bettors are searching far and wide for games to place bets on.

While professional football remains cancelled in Sweden, lower league amateur football is permitted as long as there are no more than 50 spectators in attendance.

With games continuing to be played, clubs, players and staff are already receiving constant calls and messages from punters seeking betting information.

According to Expressen, one betting site revealed that at halftime in one particular match, 223,000 Swedish Krona (around €20,418) had been placed.

One friendly matchup between seventh-tier Eskilstuna FC and eighth-tier Näshulta GoIF has had to be cancelled due to fears of match-fixing.

“All day yesterday people rang our players and staff,” Eskilstuna FC chairman, Bengin Ozeran, told fotbollskanalen.

“They got in contact through social media. It was people from all around the world. They were saying things like ‘hope you lose’ or ‘good luck’. There were more than 100 people doing it in under an hour. It’s been chaos. It was not a fun day.”

He continued: “We decided to cancel the game for the players’ safety. You never know [what could have happened] after people started contacting the players.

“They even contacted a coach in the same division we play in to check how we play and how we have played in the past. People even got in contact with some of our former players and asked about our starting lineup. It was sick.”