Following the announcement, and after yesterday’s press conference by the German authorities that confirmed a number of individuals were arrested by German police in connection with match fixing and corruption allegations of around 200 matches, UEFA can today confirm that it has been assisting the German authorities with their investigations.
UEFA has been actively involved in the investigation and has given assistance via detailed information through its Betting Fraud Detection System. This detection system monitors all UEFA competitions and European national league first and second division matches for suspicious betting patterns. The information on a number of matches was passed to the German authorities upon their request.
Of the matches concerned the vast majority are domestic league matches in nine countries, under the jurisdiction of the authorities and national football associations concerned. The small number of matches that do involve European football, 12 UEFA Europa League and 3 UEFA Champions League matches, are all early qualifying round games. More information will be given on which matches are concerned at a later date. These matches do however form part of the UEFA list of 40 matches that have previously been quoted as being ‘under suspicion’.
Commenting on the case UEFA General Secretary, Gianni Infantino, said:
“Firstly, I would like to thank the German authorities for their action and for the good collaboration. This case proves that it is possible for a state investigative authority to work closely together with a sports governing body when it comes to corruption or match fixing, and it is gratifying to see that the Betting Fraud Detection System endorsed by the UEFA President, Michel Platini, is already bearing fruit. We will continue our battle against any form of corruption in European football with a mission of zero tolerance.
“UEFA will be demanding the harshest of sanctions before the competent courts for any individuals, clubs or officials who are implicated in this malpractice, be it under state or sports jurisdiction.”