Hat-trick: Benayoun
Liverpool's 8-0 hammering of Besiktas
investigated by UEFA as part of match-fixing scandal
Liverpool have been dragged into the match-fixing scandal that has
rocked European football. There are reports that the 8-0 Champions
League win over Besiktas last month is considered suspicious
because of irregular betting patterns. UEFA officials refused to
confirm or deny the allegations.
Only last weekend UEFA president Michel Platini said the 'criminal
phenomena' in sport had become a 'big problem' after confirming
that the European governing body were looking into matches in
Eastern Europe that may have been fixed by gangster-run betting
syndicates.
UEFA are working with Europol, the pan-European police force.
Platini plans to hold a conference with From Back Page European
Commission vice-president Franco Frattini to look at
moneylaundering, match-fixing and illegal betting in
football.
William Gaillard, UEFA's director of communications, said last
night that an InterToto Cup game between Makedonija and Cherno More
in July was the only game being officially investigated. Others
were simply considered suspicious because of irregular betting
patterns.
One look at Liverpool's group is enough to raise concern. Besiktas
have a goal difference of minus nine compared to Liverpool's of
plus nine but go into next week's final game against Porto still
able to qualify ahead of the 2005 champions.
After losing 8-0 at Anfield on November 6, with Yossi Benayoun
scoring a hattrick, players and staff from the Turkish club said
how 'ashamed' they were. Investigators for Sueddeutsche Zeitung, a
Munich daily, claim that there was 'frenzied betting on a
high-score victory' prior to the game. UEFA have made no contact
with Liverpool and last night officials at Anfield said they could
not comment because they had no knowledge of any controversy.
But reports in Germany suggest that Besiktas players, on a fraction
of the salaries earned by Liverpool stars, could have been targeted
by Asian betting syndicates. "At this stage I can neither confirm
nor deny the reports," Gaillard told Sportsmail. "There has to be a
certain amount of confidentiality with these things because we
could risk a source of information drying up."
Meanwhile, Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez may rest defender Jamie
Carragher against Reading on Saturday ahead of crucial meetings
with Marseille and Manchester United. Carragher is still feeling
the effects of a rib injury, and is also a booking away from
missing the date with United on Sunday week. He seems certain to be
held in reserve for Tuesday's Champions League group decider in
Marseille.