UEFA Cup matches probed as betting unit is launched

UEFA are to launch a gambling investigation unit after it emerged 25 UEFA Cup matches were being studied due to irregular betting patterns.

"There is a danger within our game but we will not let irregular betting patterns or corruption affect the outcome of matches," UEFA secretary general David Taylor told reporters yesterday.

The unit should be fully operational from next season and will feature experts who will review suspected irregularities in matches from European competitions, said UEFA legal affairs director Gianni Infantino.

"We will start recruiting immediately," Infantino said.

"We have to set up the necessary tools to fight against this."

UEFA, Infantino said, had started reviewing 10 matches from the current season and 15 from last season, all from preliminary rounds of the UEFA Cup.

Those games, UEFA believe, could have been affected by irregular betting, a growing problem in football and other sports such as tennis. The governing body said the special unit would need to work in close co-operation with governments and police.

"Sports governing bodies reach some limits in this matter and need full support from authorities who have access to information they don't have," Infantino said.

Malta investigation

News that matches are being scrutinised by UEFA inevitably brings into focus the revelation made by Malta FA president Joe Mifsud about an attempt to influence the outcome of a UEFA Cup match played in Malta this season.

On July 26, Dr Mifsud said the MFA had uncovered a plan by foreign individuals and their Maltese accomplices to rig a match involving a local team.

The MFA head confirmed that the match took place in Malta but stopped short of identifying which of the UEFA club games played here this season had been targeted. At the time, The Sunday Times reported that the match was between Marsaxlokk and Slaven Belupo, of Croatia.

Dr Mifsud said the MFA had referred the case to the police for further investigations.

Sources have told The Times that a number of persons are being questioned by police as part of its match-fixing investigation, including a foreign coach, who has been living in Malta for several years, and a Maltese referee.