La Liga has opened an investigation into a second-division game between Racing Santander and Hercules for possible match-fixing.
League spokesman Juan Carlos Santamaria told reporters yesterday that the Spanish league is examining Racing’s 3-0 home win over Hercules on June 8.
Racing denied any wrongdoing, as Hercules refused to comment.
This new probe comes while the league is still looking into a possible match fix between first-division sides Levante UD and RC Deportivo de La Coruna in April.
Santamaria said the latest investigation was launched on July 3 after the league received a report from a bookmaker that “warned there had been suspicious bets” placed on the game. Spanish media reports had pointed to a separate report issued by European soccer governing body UEFA, but Santamaria said it had not instigated the league’s investigation.
“This is an issue that concerns the league,” Santamaria said. “Although these cases are minimal, [we] will still have fight against them to keep the competition clean.”
The investigation is being carried out by an independent committee of legal experts who have unlimited time and the power to summon clubs officials for questioning.
If a club is found to have participated in match-fixing, they can be expelled from official competition.
The league has asked the Spanish federation to open its own investigation into the players involved in the Racing-Hercules match because the league’s jurisdiction only extends to the clubs and their officials.
Racing spokeswoman Susana Barkero said the federation’s legal advisers are studying the league’s petition and will decide whether to pursue a separate investigation.
Racing said in a statement they want “to manifest its absolute rejection of any conduct that strays from the principles of fair play which have always characterized its actions and that it is committed to protecting the integrity of the sport.”
Hercules spokeswoman Sandra Canamares told reporters the club had nothing to say.
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
Two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Swiatek on Thursday avenged her shock Paris Olympics loss to Zheng Qinwen with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Chinese eighth seed, setting up a semi-final against 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the California desert. In the men’s singles, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz put on a show with his acrobatic shotmaking under the lights to close out the day’s action, overcoming a 4-1 second-set deficit to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei crashed out of the women’s doubles. Swiatek, one of the gold medal favorites when she lost to eventual champion Zheng in the
RSS