22 May 2018

Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs reveals details of match-fixing ring

Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has confirmed that police have conducted over 40 searches in 10 regions, documenting illegal match fixing activities involving five crime groups and 35 football clubs (pictured). “The composition of the criminal groups included the Presidents of football clubs, former and current players, referees, coaches, businesses and ordinary citizens”, said Minister of the Interior Arsen Avakov in a statement, adding that over 320 people had been interviewed in the investigation, which had lasted over a year.

The MIA said that match-fixers used bribery, intimidation and threats to ensure that the results of matches were known in advance. Bets were placed using the unregulated Asian betting market, earning up to US$5 million per year for the criminals. Bribes ranged from $30,000 to $100,000. Avakov said that the MIA had evidence that referees had been paid bribes of $30,000 for a draw and $100,000 for a win. 

“There are some teams that survive only because of [match-fixing], former MFC Mykolaiv defender Roman Adamenko told Hra bez Pravyl in 2015. The Football Federation of the Ukraine (FFU) has yet to issue a statement.

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