FK Pobeda president Aleksandar Zabrcanec has denied match-fixing allegations after UEFA charged the Macedonian club yesterday with rigging a Champions League match with Armenian rivals FC Pyunik in July 2004.

"We have never been involved in any such affair," Zabrcanec told Reuters by telephone after European football's governing body charged him, the club and one of its players with match-fixing.

"You can win or lose, but that's sport and there was nothing controversial in our defeat to Pyunik," he said.

"We have been notified by the Macedonian Football Federation that UEFA has started a procedure and we will state our official position on the matter soon."

Pyunik, the winners of 11 Armenian league titles, won the first qualifying round tie 4-2 on aggregate.

UEFA said the first leg in Macedonia, which Pyunik won 3-1, was the match under investigation.

"The charge is based on reports received from the betting industry on irregular betting patterns and the declarations of several witnesses," UEFA said in a statement.

"The Control and Disciplinary Body will deal with the case on April 17."

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.