Match fixing has always been one of the ugliest parts of "the beautiful game". Organizations FIFA, UEFA and more have found a total amount of 680 games suspicious of fixing. The European intelligence agency have sent police on a 19-month investigation. It seems soccer itself has not recognized any match fixing since the 1965 AC Milan vs Juventus game in the final Serie A match of the season.
Many players have been approached by match-fixers. One memorable account is from former Argentine linesman Juan Bava,"We landed in Medellin, Colombia, for the Copa Libertadores semi-final between Nacional and Uruguay's Danubio. It was 1989 and the peak time for drug trafficking in Colombia, with all kind of stories and rumours-a scary time to be a referee. After checking into our hotel with my fellow referee and linesman, we hear a knock on the door of our room. As soon as I open it, I'm punched in the face so hard it nearly knocks me out. Several men enter the room and throw a suitcase over the bed. 'That money's for you. Take it or don't take it; it's not our problem. But tomorrow Nacional will win or you're dead,' they told us. It was a terrible moment. Carlos Esposito, my colleague who was to referee the game, didn't know what to do. So I said: Carlos, if tomorrow we are in the 75th minute and the game is still 0-0, I will go into the area and head the ball home myself!' Fortunately, Nacional thrashed Danubio 6-0; we left the stadium and went directly to the airport. The suitcase remained in the room."
Match-fixing is a bad part of football (soccer) and people are working to fix it. (Ha ha.) Really liking soccer is good, but liking your team too much that you pay people to make them win is not a good thing.
P.S. I'm very sorry it took very long to complete this post. The next posts with be published faster.
