A top soccer referee and a club executive on Thursday were among the first suspects charged in a massive fraud and match-fixing scandal that has engulfed Belgium’s elite league.
Prosecutors said that more than 20 suspects were being investigated a day after hundreds of police carried out 44 house searches across Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia.
A total of 28 people were arrested on Wednesday in Belgium and another suspect was detained on Thursday morning, the federal prosecutor said.
The judge in charge of the case has also issued European arrest warrants to seek the extradition of suspects detained abroad, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor’s office told reporters.
The investigation is focused on some of Belgium’s best-known soccer agents, including former Sporting Charleroi manager Mogi Bayat, who was arrested in his home on suspected links to crooked transfer deals.
Another agent, Dejan Veljkovic, is suspected of both fraud and match fixing.
Suspicions of match fixing emerged during the fraud investigation, with a focus on matches played last season, prosecutors said.
Veljkovic is alleged to have engineered a match-fixing scheme with a Belgian referee in a failed effort to save club KV Mechelen from relegation.
Mechelen financial director Thierry Steemans has been detained and charged in the match-fixing case, prosecutors said.
The searches were carried out at the headquarters of nine clubs, including Mechelen, Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Genk and Standard Liege.
Club Brugge coach Ivan Leko, whose team is playing in the Champions League this season, was released after questioning on Thursday and charged.
“There is discussion about a part of his salary from a number of years ago and whether that has been correctly reported to the tax authorities,” said his lawyer, Walter Van Steenbrugge. “There was no money-laundering in a criminal sense.”
In Belgium, various objects were seized, including luxury watches, jewelery and cash. Empty boxes intended for luxury watches worth 8 million euros (US$9.27 million) were also found.
Abroad, documents and safes were seized and bank accounts frozen totalling 3.6 million euros.
In Serbia, the Belgrade High Court ordered the extradition of a Montenegrin national, an agent active in soccer, media reported.
The suspect is wanted by Belgium, which suspects him of corruption and money laundering. He was interrogated on Wednesday evening.
The investigation started late last year as a result of a report drawn up by the Sports Fraud Cell set up by Belgium’s federal police.
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS