The 2009 European football betting scandal was an attempt to influence the outcome

Match fixing

In organised sports, match fixing, game fixing, race fixing, or sports fixing occurs as a match is played to a completely or partially pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. Where the sporting competition in question is a race then the incident is referred to as...

 of professional association football matches in Europe, and to defraud the gambling industry by betting on the results. The investigation centres on around two-hundred fixtures, include domestic league games in nine European countries; Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Austria. It also involved twelve qualifying matches in the UEFA Europa League, and three in the UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

. Peter Limacher, a spokesman for European football's governing body UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

, described it as "the biggest match-fixing scandal ever to hit Europe."

Background

UEFA revealed in March 2009 that they were bringing charges against an unnamed European club, later revealed to be Macedonian side FK Pobeda

FK Pobeda

FK Pobeda is a football team in the Republic of Macedonia from the city of Prilep. It was founded in 1941 as Goce Delčev and renamed in 1950 to FK Pobeda. The club plays at the Goce Delčev Stadium ....

. Pobeda were found guilty of match-fixing in a tie against Armenian club Pyunik in 2004. As a consequence, the club was handed an eight year ban from all European competitions, and club president Aleksandar Zabrcanec and former captain Nikolce Zdravevski were given lifetime European football bans. UEFA president Michel Platini

Michel Platini

Michel François Platini is a former French football player, manager and current president of UEFA. Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was the top goalscorer and voted the best player. He participated in the 1978, 1982...

 revealed that his organisation were stepping up their efforts to eradicate match fixing in the game, and that 27,000 fixtures would be monitored in the 2009–10 season.

Investigation and arrests

The fraud

Fraud

In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...

 was discovered through telephone tapping

Telephone tapping

Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...

 of organized crime

Organized crime

Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...

 activities and has been investigated by the Prosecutorial Office at Bochum

Bochum

Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. On 19 November 2009 a series of raids were conducted in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Austria in relation to the betting investigation. They resulted in fifteen arrests in Germany, and a further two in Switzerland, as well as the seizure of cash and property.

Brothers and Croatian Café King owners Ante, Cirko and Milan Sapina were at the centre of the investigation in Germany. On 28 November 2009 Patrick Neumann, captain

Captain (sports)

In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...

 of SC Verl

SC Verl

SC Verl is a German association football club based in Verl, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was founded on 6 September 1924, and since 1970 has consistently played in the higher echelons of amateur football.-History:...

 confessed to his involvement in the scandal, and implicated the FC Gütersloh

FC Gütersloh

FC Gütersloh 2000 is a German association football club based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia.- History :The club was formed in 1978 out of the merger of the football sides of Sport Verein Arminia and Deutsche Jugendkraft Gütersloh in the hopes that the new club would be more successful than...

 striker Daniel Telenga. Neumann was suspended after a statement from his club.

Matches investigated by UEFA

All matches under investigation were played in 2009.

Competition or country	Number of games investigated	Level or round of competition
UEFA Champions League UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...	3	Qualifying rounds
UEFA Europa League	12	Qualifying rounds
Germany Football in Germany Association football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a league system, with the 1. and 2. Bundesliga on top, and the winner of the first...	32	2. Fußball-Bundesliga 2. Fußball-Bundesliga - Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20... , 3rd Liga 3rd Liga The 3rd Liga is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third tier football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2... , Regionalliga and Oberliga Oberliga (football) The Oberliga is currently the name of the fifth tier of the German football leagues. Before the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008, it was the fourth tier...
Belgium Football in Belgium Football, a sport which has been played in Belgium since the end of the 19th century, is that country's most popular sport. The national association was founded in 1895 with the intention of bringing some order and organization to the sport...	17	Second Division Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system after the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the Belgian Football Association in 1905. Between 2008 and 2010 it was named EXQI League after a television channel owned by the league main sponsor,...
Switzerland Football in Switzerland Football is one of the most popular sports in Switzerland. The Swiss Football Association was formed in 1895 and was a founder member of the sport's international governing body FIFA in 1904. The Swiss cities of Zurich and Nyon are home to FIFA and the European governing body UEFA respectively...	22	Challenge League
Croatia Football in Croatia Football in Croatia, called nogomet, is the most popular team sport in the country and is led by the Croatian Football Federation. It is played in four official components; the domestic league consists of three hierarchical echelons, and a single national team represents the entire state...	14	Prva HNL
Slovenia Football in Slovenia Football in Slovenia is governed by the Football Association of Slovenia . Slovenia has participated in international football as an independent nation ever since 1991 when the country separated from SFR Yugoslavia...	7	PrvaLiga
Turkey Football in Turkey Association football is a national sport in Turkey, tracing its roots back to the Ottoman Empire. The first matches were played in Selanik, now known as Thessaloníki, in 1875. The sport was brought over by some lovely English people living in the area. The Turkish football league system currently...	29	Süper Lig
Hungary Football in Hungary - History :The Hungarian Football Federation , the sport's national governing body, was founded in 1901. Hungary were regular features at major tournaments, such as the first Olympic Football Tournament and many FIFA World Cup...	13	Hungarian National Championship I
Bosnia and Herzegovina Football in Bosnia and Herzegovina Football , is the most popular sport in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Even during the turbulent years of conflict, football never ground to a halt and the game quickly boomed again after the end of hostilities, even though there were still separate ethnic groups within the association, which was formed...	8	Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the top football league in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the country's most prestigious level of football competition currently contested by 16 clubs with last two teams relegated at the end of every season....
Austria Football in Austria Football is a popular sport in Austria, second only to alpine skiing. The Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB , was founded in 1904 and has been a member of FIFA since then.-League system:...	11	Austrian Bundesliga and First League Austrian Football First League The Austrian Football First League is the second highest professional division in Austrian football. It contains 10 teams and is run in the same fashion as the Austrian Bundesliga...
UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The European Under-21 Football Championship is a football competition organised by the sport's European governing body, UEFA. It is held every two years. The competition has existed in its current form since 1978. It was preceded by the Under 23 Challenge Cup which ran from 1967 to 1970...	Unknown	Unknown

UEFA revealed on 25 November 2009 that seven matches played in UEFA competitions would be investigated in further detail, and that five clubs were under investigation; KF Tirana, FC Dinaburg, KS Vllaznia, NK IB Ljubljana and Budapest Honvéd. It also revealed that it was conducting its own investigation of three referees and one other individual connected with UEFA in relation to these games.