By Mark Baber
September 25 – The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has said that eight referees have been arrested in connection with fixing the number of yellow and red cards in matches. The investigation is focused on commercial bribery offences which carry a 4-6 year prison sentence.
According to the statement on the MIA web site: “The officers of Anti-corruption Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained referees and Referee Supervisors’ Committee arbiters on the fact of commercial bribery. The detainees are: arbiters of the national category-Otar Kh. (DoB 1977) Irakli U. (DoB 1979) Mamuka U. (DoB 1972) Teimuraz Kh. (DoB 1975), first category arbiters-Aleksandre G. (DoB 1975), Zviad A. (DoB 1984), national category assistant-Onise M. (DoB 1974) and “Fifa” abiter Tornike G. (DoB 1986).”
According to the statement the detainees agreed in advance the number of yellow and red cads they would issue, in return for $2,500-5,000 a match. Along with the statement the MIA published videos showing $100 bills laid out on a table and the referees, with their faces blurred and one wearing a UEFA jacket, being led one-by-one into a police building.
From the videos it is clear that investigators had managed to penetrate the match-fixing ring as one of the videos shows a man with a body-worn hidden camera negotiating with one of the referees.
The Georgian Football Federation issued a statement saying the investigation was launched after it requested a “number of times” for law enforcement agencies to look into “information received from UEFA about suspicious matches in the Georgian national championship.”
The MIA stresses that investigations by the Anti-corruption Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are continuing, not just into referees but also into the wider circle of illegal betting groups.
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