Defendant claims qualifier was fixed

A defendant in the trial of four men accused of match-fixing across Europe claimed yesterday that the group bribed a UEFA referee to manipulate the result of a 2010 World Cup qualifier. The defendant told the court in Bochum that Bosnian referee Novo...

A defendant in the trial of four men accused of match-fixing across Europe claimed yesterday that the group bribed a UEFA referee to manipulate the result of a 2010 World Cup qualifier.

The defendant told the court in Bochum that Bosnian referee Novo Panic, who has since been banned for life by UEFA, helped fix the result of a qualifier between Liechtenstein and Finland in 2009.

“We manipulated the match by using Novo Panic,” defendant Marijo C. told the trial which threatens to tarnish European football.

The defendant did not say whether the bribe was successful during the four-hour hearing.

The Group 4 game on September 9, 2009 in Vaduz ended in a 1-1 draw as Panic awarded a 73rd-minute penalty to Finland and sent a Liechtenstein player off after the hosts equalised.

Germany went on to win Group 4 and neither team qualified for the 2010 World Cup.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

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.