UEFA to charge club with match fixing

UEFA will bring match-fixing charges against a European club within days, European soccer's governing body said yesterday.

"There are a number of cases we have been looking at," UEFA general secretary David Taylor told a news conference after the UEFA Congress.

"It's very complex and very difficult to find proof. But within the next couple of days we will be issuing charges against one club."

Taylor did not disclose what country the club was from. In September, UEFA said it was reviewing 10 matches from the current UEFA Cup season and 15 from last season for irregular betting patterns, all in the competition's preliminary rounds.

Among the matches being reviewed are a 2007 Intertoto Cup match between Vllaznia Shkoder and NK Zagreb, controlled by Maltese referee Joe Attard, and the Marsaxlokk-Slaven Belupo UEFA Cup first qualifying round tie last summer.

Attard, a former FIFA referee, is currently suspended from all football activities, along with Albanian coach Ilir Pelinku, following his alleged involvement in an attempt to rig the Marsaxlokk-Slaven tie which the Maltese team lost 4-0 at Ta' Qali.

UEFA will launch a gambling investigating unit next season featuring experts who will review suspected irregularities in matches from European competitions.

"UEFA is setting up this betting fraud detection system across Europe to include 27,000 matches in the first and second division in each national association," Taylor said.

"Only a few matches cause us problems but we are determined to root out this issue."