By David Gold
June 27 – It is being claimed in various media outlets that a Europa League match involving Manchester City last season is at the heart of a match fixing scandal, with the Greek side Aris under investigation, though the English Premier League club’s behaviour is not under any suspicion from football authorities.
Aris midfielder Kostas Mendrinos, in a phone call presented as evidence in the case, claims that he could ask Nery Castillo to persuade his Manchester City team mate Carlos Tevez to let the Greek side kick off the match.
The suggestion from Mendrinos that Tevez could be involved was solely because he, as Manchester City’s captain, was the only player with the power to do such a thing, though there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the Argentine’s part.
During the case, a total of 70 suspects, including Olympiakos owner Vangelis Marinakis and Greek international Avraam Papadopoulos, were named by a prosecutor in Athens in connection with a match fixing allegation.
Ten of the suspects have already been arrested under suspicion of being at the centre of a betting ring.
Marinakis, who is also the president of the Greek Super League, is accused of having worked with a criminal gang to take part in bribery in order to fix the outcome of games in the country.
He has denied being involved in the scam, saying: “The match fixing issue has nothing to do with us, there is no evidence pointing to any wrongdoing.”
A number of players, including Aris’ Mendrinos and Diagoras’ Jose Reyes are among those named by the prosecutor, Eleni Raikou.
Marios Lefkaritis, a Cypriot vice-president of UEFA’s Executive Committee, told Greek station Skai TV that “UEFA is satisfied with developments and the way the Greek state is handling the matter”.
The Greek Football Association suspended operations earlier in June in an effort to convince the government and clubs to help tackle the issue.
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