7 of the biggest football scandals in recent history

#6 The 2009 European football betting scandal

Macedonian side FK Pobeda were banned for eight years from all European competition for fixing a UEFA Europa League fixture.

Described by UEFA as “the biggest match-fixing scandal ever to hit Europe”, the 2009 European football betting scandal was an attempt to manipulate results in around two hundred matches including games in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Austria.

The scandal also involved twelve qualification matches in the UEFA Europa League and three in the UEFA Champions League.

Investigations into the match-fixing were initially revealed by UEFA which said it would be bringing charges against Macedonian side FK Pobeda, who were found guilty of match-fixing in a tie against Armenian club Pyunik. As a result of the fraud, which was discovered through tapping the phones of organised crime, the club was banned for eight years from all European competition, while club president Aleksander Zabrcanec and former captain Nikolce Zdravevski were both banned from European football for life.

Fifteen people were arrested in Germany for the fraud, while a further two were arrested in Switzerland, along with the seizure of cash and property.

While 168 matches were investigated in total, it has yet to be relieved how many were actually manipulated.

At the time, UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino said: “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.”

Former UEFA president Michel Platini added that his organisation would be monitoring 27,000 fixtures the following season, however considering he was later banned for eight years following an ethics investigation by FIFA, his words can’t exact be taken seriously.