Valencia caught up in La Liga match-fixing scandal with win over Real Valladolid that secured Champions League investigated
VALENCIA'S win on Sunday that secured Champions League qualification is being investigated, a veteran Spanish crime reporter claimed today.
Spanish football has been rocked by an alleged match-fixing scandal and a number of footballers have reportedly been arrested, including Leeds United's Samuel Saiz.
Nacho Abad said on Spanish national TV this morning: "On the last day of the La Liga season on May 18, a match involving a team which will play Champions League football next season was allegedly fixed.
"The match was the one Valencia won 2-0 away to Valladolid. This was the final trigger that led to all the arrests that are taking place today."
Diverting any blame away from Valencia football club, who on Saturday beat Barcelona to lift the Copa del Rey, he added: “It wasn’t a game that was allegedly fixed between clubs.
"What we’re talking about is players and ex-players who allegedly fixed the match to earn money from betting sites.
“Borja Fernandez, an ex-Real Madrid player, is an ex-Valladolid player who only left the club a week ago and started the match that day as captain.”
He added: “Let’s suppose the captain has let himself be influenced by bets, it doesn’t mean that the whole team would play worse, so we’ll have to see if there are more arrests later today and in coming days.”
Valencia secured fourth place in La Liga and qualification for next season’s Champions League ahead of Getafe and Sevilla with their away win on the final day.
If Valladolid had beaten Valencia, both Getafe and Sevilla could have nipped in front.
Valladolid finished 16th after escaping the threat of relegation earlier in the season.
Spanish sports journalist Alfredo Duro took to Twitter after the Valladolid-Valencia match to rage: “Was it necessary that the game between Valladolid and Valencia was so blatant?”
Fernandez said after his last game with Valladolid and his retirement from football: “I’ve thought about retiring many times in the last few years as I’m getting on.
“Little by little you come round to the idea, but it’s impossible to deal with it when the moment arrives. I’ve felt very emotional over the last few days.”
Several Spanish papers reported this morning Leeds attacker Saiz had been arrested although radio station COPE said it had confirmed he was under investigation but had not been formally jailed.
Leeds signed Saiz from Huesca in 2017 and he made 58 appearances for the club before being loaned out to Getafe in December.
The radio station published on its website: “Several media have said Samuel Saiz, currently playing at Getafe, had also been arrested.
“But COPE journalist Gemma Santos has been able to confirm the player has not been arrested.”
Gemma Santos tweeted: “That’s correct. Our reporting team have had it confirmed that Samu Saiz is not under arrest.”
Officers did not refer to the players by their names in a statement they issued at midday today and a spokesman for Spain’s National Police said she was unable to say whether they included Saiz, former Real Madrid player Raul Bravo and Huesca president Agustin Lasaosa.
But the force said in a statement: “National Police officers are carrying out an operation against an organisation allegedly dedicated to professional football match-fixing.
EXPECT TO ARREST
“As part of Operation Oikos, directed by Court of Investigation Number Five in the city of Huesca, nine searches will be carried out in different parts of the country in relation with the crimes of sports match-fixing, money laundering and criminal organisation.
“Eleven people are expected to be arrested, among them active and retired first division football players, second division footballers who are still playing, as well as the presidents and heads of a club.
“The investigation has enabled investigators to confirm that those under investigation reached agreements with different players to fix at least three matches in the first, second and third divisions.
“The match-fixing that was attempted in the third division game failed but the players involved agreed to compensate the losses by repeating in the future.
“One of the match fixes, a second division game, led to betting firms seeing a 14-fold increase in the amount of money that was being wagered compared with normal volumes for this division.”
BRAVO THE 'RINGLEADER'
Spanish reports have described 38-year-old Bravo, who won 14 International caps and played for Spain at Euro 2004 in Portugal, as the suspected ringleader of a criminal organisation dedicated to gambling-motivated match-fixing of games in Spain's top two flights.
A second-division match last season between Huesca and Nastic de Tarragona has been identified locally as another suspect game.
Home side Huesca, who had already been promoted to La Liga, lost 1-0 to Nastic who were fighting to stay in the second division.
Nigerian Ikechukwu Uche scored the only goal of the game in May last year in the 72nd minute.
Around 30 betting agencies and websites are said to have suspended betting after detecting an alarming rise in bets on a 0-0 draw at half-time and an away team victory at the end of the match.
Francesco Baranco, Secretary General of Federbet which fights against match-fixing, described the movements as “mad.”
An increased number of bets which aroused suspicion reportedly came from Ukraine and Asia.
The Spanish Football Federation is believed to have flagged up its suspicions of possible match-fixing before today’s police operation with Spanish state prosecutors.
MATCH-FIXING INVESTIGATION
A Spanish TV station which sent a reporter to Bravo’s home this morning said it was being searched by police and he was inside accompanying the search.
A reporter for the morning show on the Antena 3 channel - called Espejo Publico - said he had seen officers coming out of the property carrying boxes.
MOST READ IN FOOTBALL
Sociedad Deportiva Huesca lawyer Pedro Camarero has confirmed several arrests have taken place on the orders of an investigating judge.
He also confirmed he had not been able to contact the club president, said to be among the detainees.
Camarero told press outside the club’s stadium: “There’s no feeling of worry at the club and we are ready to assist the court with whatever requests it makes of us.”
