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UEFA takes extreme measures to stamp out corruption and match fixing

Thu, Mar 26 2009 14:00 CET byNick Iliev 1154 Views
UEFA takes extreme measures to stamp out corruption and match fixing

The European football governing body, UEFA, will undertake dramatic and unprecedented measures to stamp out and eradicate match fixing from next year. The serious measures, perhaps long overdue, were triggered by an incident that occurred nearly five years ago between two obscure football clubs.

The UEFA board has raised accusations against the president of the Macedonian football club Pobeda Prilep, Alexander Zabrcanec and the former team captain Nikolche Zdraveski. They were accused of manipulating the final score of a football match for their own personal benefit.

The match in question took place during the first qualification preliminary round of the Champions League against the Armenian side Pyunik Yerevan, on July 13 in 2004.

All the evidence surrounding the case will be re-examined on April 17 by the control and disciplinary body of UEFA.

The European football central body will introduce a special, unprecedented monitoring system to be implemented by 53 members of UEFA. The grand scheme aims to cover 27 000 fixtures in the upper two divisions of each European country. The massive project will be financed by UEFA with financial resources being allocated to each country's football governing body.

"If football results are premeditated, then this sport is dead. This is a serious problem, threatening the entire game. We will not stand for it, and we are determined to eradicate it," said David Taylor, the UEFA general secretary.

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Beleaguered

Bulgarian football survived a bleak 2008, rampant with allegations of match-fixing and corruption, poor facilities, few prospects for the future and even less funding for the football academies that are tasked with producing the next Bulgarian golden football generation.

The deadly game

Holding the presidency of a football club can be hazardous - even deadly - in Bulgaria. Dozens of examples over the past 19 years attest to this. The latest is that of Yordan Andreev, president of second division Marek football club from the small southern town of Doupnitsa.

Football, lies and videotape

On the day Transparency International declared Bulgaria the most corrupt country in the European Union, the Bulgarian sport and football world was shocked to see the arrest of a high-profile sport and government official. Ivan Lekov, a well-known former football referee and current deputy head of the State Agency for Sports and Youth (SASY) was arrested on

Corruption row in Bulgarian football continues with an arrest

Ivan Lekov, deputy chairperson of the State Agency for Sport and Youth (SASY), has been arrested by the State Agency for National Security, Bulgarian-language media reported on September 23 2008. According to Bulgarian news agency BTA, Lekov was arrested in relation to the corruption row that has been going on for weeks in Bulgarian football, with allegations flying about fixed matches and referees being forced to take softer stances towards certain football clubs.

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