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Betting scandal erupts over Schalke's Champions League match against Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Allegations of a large scale fraud in the Champions League have emerged
8 Jan 2011 16:31:00
By Clark Whitney
Was the first leg of the Champions league tie between Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Schalke fixed? The match ended 3-1 in favour of the Germans, and immediately after the clash there were indications that the game could have been fixed. An Israeli newspaper headline therefore did not express a great deal of shock: "They are shocked within the club, but in the Hapoel team there have long been rumours about the away game at Schalke." In particular, the defence disappointed in a weak performance against Schalke. In a goalless draw in the return leg, the same defence was very confident.
More Than €12 million
What happened? On the Asian market, there was a betting offer of €12 million on a significant victory for Schalke. Uefa had been monitoring the affair for some time, long before SZ published a report to bring the story out in the open. The matter was investigated but is "not yet complete." Therefore, one may of course make no hasty conclusions. In particular, defender Douglas da Silva, who now plays for Red Bull Salzburg and was Goal.com's flop of the match at the meeting in question, reportedly has moved into the focus of investigators and was said to be very closely involved in the alleged manipulations. In the coming weeks, this case will be examined more closely.
Magath Knows Nothing
Schalke coach Felix Magath, however, knows nothing of these allegations, and is quoted in Bild: "This is the first I have heard. So I can not say anything, from me he was not bribed. It is not unusual for teams playing weaker away than at home." Quite so simple this case appears not to be, and therefore there will be in the coming days, weeks, and months, certainly a lot of speculation and investigatory efforts on this issue. One can only hope in the spirit of the entire sport that it is not true, and the allegations can be cleared quickly.
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More Than €12 million
What happened? On the Asian market, there was a betting offer of €12 million on a significant victory for Schalke. Uefa had been monitoring the affair for some time, long before SZ published a report to bring the story out in the open. The matter was investigated but is "not yet complete." Therefore, one may of course make no hasty conclusions. In particular, defender Douglas da Silva, who now plays for Red Bull Salzburg and was Goal.com's flop of the match at the meeting in question, reportedly has moved into the focus of investigators and was said to be very closely involved in the alleged manipulations. In the coming weeks, this case will be examined more closely.
Magath Knows Nothing
Schalke coach Felix Magath, however, knows nothing of these allegations, and is quoted in Bild: "This is the first I have heard. So I can not say anything, from me he was not bribed. It is not unusual for teams playing weaker away than at home." Quite so simple this case appears not to be, and therefore there will be in the coming days, weeks, and months, certainly a lot of speculation and investigatory efforts on this issue. One can only hope in the spirit of the entire sport that it is not true, and the allegations can be cleared quickly.
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