Match-fixing

Over the past few months, an old foe has returned to blemish our footballing game. We had thought that match-fixing was a thing of the past, but the events over the Christmas period meant that it has returned.

It used to play a major role in Italian football which saw Juventus stripped of their 04/05 and 05/06 titles and demoted to Serie B with a 30 point deduction in 2006. They were not the only team involved as sanctions were dished out to Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina. Milan remained in the Serie A for the following season but albeit at the expense of 15 points. Lazio suffered a seven penalty while Fiorentina were docked twelve points for the following season, both were relegated to Serie B.

In the middle of December, Cremona prosecutor Roberto Di Martino confirmed that former Italian, Rangers and Milan hatchet man Gennaro Gattuso has allegedly been involved a syndicate that fixed matches in Serie A at the end of the 2010/2011 season. The Italian was renowned for his fierce tackling and hard work which earned him the nickname of Ringhio (growl). He has recently pleaded his innocence by contemplating suicide if found guilty

Much closer to home, 6 footballers have been arrested on suggestion of match-fixing. As of the 16th December, the Daily Mail reported that Oldham Athletic player Cristian Montano had been sacked. He is one of the six players arrested and bailed by the National Crime Agency in an operation looking to stamp out match-fixing in football. 

The Sun newspaper did an investigation into ex-pompey and Nigerian international Sam Sodje. A video shows Sodje claiming to be able to fix Championship matches and also Montano explaining how 'he struggled to get a booking in a League One match against Wolves in October.' A separate video shows the Nigerian divulge details on how he punched Portsmouth's Lee Bernard down below in an attempt to get sent off in order to collect a £70,000 payout.

I'm glad to see that UEFA are creating measures to combat match-fixing through the introduction of their 11-point plan which is designed to engage match-fixing. As reported by BBC Sport, it will be distributed to all 54 European football associations. Further afield, the Malaysian FA imposed a lifetime ban on five players and three team officials. As well as the ban, they were slapped a RM20,000 fine which is equivalent to just over 3,700 British pounds.

Today, illegal betting syndicates are worth an estimated £320 billion - fuelled by ‘in-game’ betting and prove to make clients extremely rich. We thought we had seen the back of match-fixing after the severe penalties dealt out for the 2006 scandal but recent events have shown us that this is not the case. I say, leave it for the cricket.