Scotland’s Evening Express has reported that a match-fixing investigation by Latvian police, which arose from the Europa League tie between Aberdeen and the Latvian club Daugava Riga in July 2014, has identified eight suspects. According to the newspaper, a spokesman for the Latvian police said that they had identified eight subjects, two of which were arrested a few months ago and accused of match-fixing, tax evasion and serious fraud but had now been released under police parole.

The newspaper said that two reports into the alleged match-fixing had been compiled by FederBet, an anti-corruption agency based in Belgium, which in turn reportedly triggered a UEFA probe into Daugava Riga. The newspaper said that the reports highlighted ‘suspicious activity’ in the betting markets during both the first and second legs of the Europa League tie. It is understood that match-fixing agencies in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Indonesia are thought to be involved and that the sums exchanged purportedly amount to millions of euros.

In October 2014, UEFA was informed of arrests of members of another Latvian club, FC Daugava Daugavpils, for ‘alleged cases of match-fixing in a UEFA competition fixture.’ The investigation was ongoing at the time and no further developments have been reported.

When contacted a spokesperson for UEFA told the Sports Integrity Initiative that they were ‘in close cooperation with the Latvian police and the Latvian Football Federation.’ UEFA  said that the investigation was yet to be completed and that they would await the results of that. UEFA continued that, ‘Based on this we will be able to take disciplinary action. The allegations do not involve Aberdeen. We have no further comment or information at this stage.’

A spokesman for Aberdeen FC said that it would not be commenting on the investigation as Aberdeen were not involved.