FC Jerv involved in a possible match-fixing scandal
The Norwegian Football Club, Jerv, won 1-0 over Latvian Ventspils in a pre-season match at Marbella, Spain. The friendly is now investigated by the European Football Association (UEFA) as a possible case of match-fixing.
Jerv won the match after a very late goal (89th minute). Shortly before that, large amounts of money were bet on the Norwegian second league team to win, writes Bergensavisen. The newspaper was the first to mention the matter in Norway.
Match-fixing
The way the players of Ventspils behaved during the decisive minutes, is another reason for suspecting match-fixing.
“In the heat of the moment, it looked as if Ventspils pushed every man into the attack, in an attempt to win. This resulted in us having six big chances alone with a keeper in the last minute. The referees must have reported it to UEFA as a possible case of match-fixing,” Head Coach of Jerv, Arne Sandstø, tells Bergensavisen (BA).
“We have received confirmation that, in connection with our friendly against Ventspils yesterday, there are suspicions of match-fixing. Now work is being done to find out what the basis for the suspicion is,” the General Manager of Jerv, Christopher MacConnacher, confirms to the newspaper.
The Norwegian Football Association (NFF) also inform that the pre-season match has been reported as a potential case of match-fixing.
Ventspils hotly rejects the allegation
Ventspils hotly rejects that the friendly against Jerv was set up.
“We fielded a mix of the second and third teams, with many young players. This because we field our best team against Molde today (Friday). There were some chances at the end, but our keeper made two or three big saves. I can’t see the problem. these are unfounded allegations,” the club’s press liaison, Michael Korolov, claims to Romsdals Budstikke.
The Latvian top flight club beat Molde FK 2-1 on Friday. Christoffer Remmer sent MFK in the lead – but two goals from Aiyegun Tosin, a few minutes apart, – secured Ventspils the victory in the second half of the match.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
