Croatia football chief Davor Suker rejects link to Europe’s biggest match-fixing scandals

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino said he was shocked after the president of Serie B club Catania reportedly admitted to buying the results of five matches in the past season.

Croatian forward Davor Suker, shown here celebrating during the 1998 World Cup, denied reports linking him to a betting probe. AFP PHOTO

Zagreb // Davor Suker, the head of Croatia’s football federation (HNS), has denied reports linking him to one of Europe’s biggest match-fixing scandals.

“I was never in my life involved in any activity aimed at setting up or influencing the result of a football match,” Suker, who is also a member of Uefa’s executive committee, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“HNS and myself are firmly committed to fight that horrible disease of match-fixing.”

Suker’s denial followed German media reports implicating him with Ante Sapina, a German of Croatian origin and the key figure in the 2009 scandal that rocked European football.

According to German broadcaster ARB, German prosecutors from Bochum had evidence, consisting of text messages and intercepted phone conversations, that Suker was in contact with Sapina on several occasions in 2009.

Sapina allegedly advised Suker on how to bet at least once in the Uefa Champions League and twice in the Europa League.

In 2011, Sapina was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison by a Bochum court, having been the leader of a gang that had bribed players and officials in matches across Europe to influence results on which they then bet heavily.

In a six-month trial, Sapina and members of his gang confessed to influencing about 50 games across Europe.

Suker said he was “never questioned by any competent body regarding the alleged relation with Sapina” and another betting fraudster.

Recalling that the German prosecutors were probing match-fixing affairs for the past seven years, Suker said that they had never questioned him.

“I never played or acted against my firm fair-play principles and love towards integrity of sports,” said the 47-year-old former Sevilla, Real Madrid and Arsenal striker.

Suker is Croatia’s record scorer, having netted 45 goals in 69 internationals.

He was the top scorer at the 1998 World Cup in France, where Croatia finished third.

Uefa ‘worried’ by news of match-fixing incidents

PRAGUE // Uefa said it was shocked by reports that Italian second-division games had been fixed for €100,000 (Dh411,000) each.

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino reacted after the president of Serie B club Catania reportedly admitted to buying the results of five matches in the past season.

“We are, of course, sad to learn what is happening. We are worried that a second-division club can fix five matches paying €100,000 per match,” Infantino said.

“We are worried about the situation, and in general, and that is why we are fighting against it. That’s why we are working with the prosecutors, that’s why we are working with associations.”

Italian police have arrested five people including Catania president Antonio Pulvirenti over the latest match-fixing scandal to rock Italian football. Pulvirenti made his confession on Monday, according to Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.

“Unfortunately, we are dealing with criminal organisations,” Infantino said.

Uefa is using a sophisticated data collection system to monitor all first and second-division games in Europe. There are also anti-fraud officers in each of Uefa’s 54 members.

But another case, which involves Greek champions Olympiakos, has also tainted European football.

The Pireaus team’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, has been banned from all football activities while a Greek judge looks into allegations that the shipping tycoon was part of a criminal gang that fixed Greek Super League matches between 2011 and 2013.

Infantino said Olympiakos have been “provisionally” accepted for next season’s Uefa Champions League while the investigation goes ahead.

“These kind of investigations can take some time. We need some clear evidence,” he said.

Infantino said that, in general, Uefa “cannot start taping phone calls or going to check bank accounts or whatever, for this we need the help of the prosecutors”.

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