By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – Dinamo Zagreb’s stunning 7-1 defeat in the final round of Champions League group games has been brought back into sharp focus after a court in the Croatian capital found 15 players and referees guilty of match fixing and sentenced them to jail terms of up to 10 months.
UEFA initially dismissed suggestions of wrongdoing after Dinamo were thrashed at home by Lyon allowing the French team to progress to the knockout round at Ajax’s expense.
But now it has been revealed that 13 Croats have been sentenced to between six and 10 months for fixing national league games – with two more receiving suspended terms.
All 15 pleaded guilty to having fixed eight matches and trying to fix three more.
They were also fined a total of €65,000 ($84,305/£54,500), the amount they won by illegal betting.
The case stemmed from information uncovered at Europe’s biggest-ever match-fixing trial in Bochum two years ago.
The verdicts came just days after two senior Croatian football officials, vice-president of the Croatian Football Association Zeljko Siric and head of the nation’s referee commission Stjepan Djedovic, were also arrested on suspicion they took payments in return for guaranteeing that national league matches would be refereed fairly.
Although neither case has anything to do with last week’s European result, they are bound to rekindle suspicions.
Dinamo and Lyon were locked 1-1 at halftime with the French side scoring six unanswered goals in the second half to go through.
The latest arrests in Croatia come on the heels of those in Turkey – where 93 officials and players are currently awaiting trial – plus parts of Africa and Asia, much of it down to increased scrutiny led by FIFA’s head of security, Chris Eaton.
Eaton’s task has been boosted by FIFA pledging €20 million ($26 million/£17 million) to Interpol over 10 years including the creation of an anti-corruption centre in Singapore with two more to come in South America and the Middle East.
Early next year FIFA will launch an amnesty programme for those who come forward with information about rigged matches.
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