Here’s a revelation that’s shocked no one who’s been following soccer in Europe. This past weekend saw the newest betting scandal hit the continent, a match-fixing scam that could have possibly compromised up to 26 games, including a match during the Euro 08 qualifiers. This is on the heels of last year’s Serie A match fixing scandal and the recent arrest of the EPL’s Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp and Tottenham/France defender Pascal Chimbonda in a transfers and accounting scheme. Come on, people, show a little restraint!

We wonder what Michel Platini, the UEFA president who has been busy trying to kick out foreigners from the EPL, has to say.

[Platini] described the scale of the problem European football was facing.

“We know that in Hong Kong, Singapore or elsewhere in Asia you might have a single bet of 10 million dollars on a match ending 4-4,” he told The Sunday Times.”

“It’s coming to the end of the match, it’s 2-2 and there are four penalties, and it finishes 4-4. We knew about these cases because we do have an early-warning system in place.

Not to tell Platini and UEFA how to run their business, but if they knew beforehand, shouldn’t something have been done? If the next time Michel’s in “Hong Kong, Singapore or elsewhere in Asia” and comes back to a new house, we know what’s wrong with the early-warning system.

European football rocked by match-fixing probe [Yahoo]
Image [smh.com.au]