By Andrew Warshaw
September 29 – UEFA President Michel Platini has urged all European countries to outlaw match fixing as a criminal offence warning it brings fears to the entire continent.
In a speech to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Platini warned that criminal gangs fixing matches for multi-million profits was getting out of hand and was impossible to contain by UEFA alone.
“European sport is afraid because of a match fixing phenomenon that is developing in connection with large scale online betting activities,” he said.
“The growth of betting related match fixing is alarming, especially because it is a problem to which no sport and no country is immune.
“This is why I believe the Council of Europe now needs to intervene.
“We need politicians to join our efforts to combat this scourge.”
This month, the Turkish Football Federation withdrew Fenerbahçe from the lucrative Champions League while it is under suspicion in a criminal match fixing probe.
Match fixing has also spread to Italy, Israel and Greece, all linked to Asian gambling rings.
“The growing number of fixed matches connected to online betting is alarming, it doesn’t spare any discipline and no country is safe,” said Platini.
“These fixed matches are orchestrated by criminal organisations.”
The UEFA President also underlined his commitment to UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations which will start to bite in three years’ time, and warned again that expulsion from European competition was a definite option for those who flout the rules.
“I want to urge European clubs to listen to the voice of reason, which is telling them: ‘do not spend more money than you have or you risk sending football down the road to ruin’,” he said.
“Respect for financial fair play will be a necessary and indispensable condition of participation in the Champions League and Europa League.
“UEFA will see this project through to the end, since it has no selfish goals to defend: its only objective is to look after the interests of European football as a whole.”
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