Serious Sums Involved in Murky Bulgarian Match-Fixing, Betting

Betting on fixed matches has considerable proportions in Bulgaria, according to Yavor Kolev, cyber crime expert from GDBOP. Photo by Sofia News Agency

A considerable amount of money is involved in Bulgarian football match fixing and dishonest betting, according to a Bulgarian Unit for Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP) representative.

Signals about betting on fixed football match results have been recently received from all across Bulgaria, Yavor Kolev, cyber crime expert from GDBOP, stated.

Allegations of match fixing with the purpose of subsequent wins from online betting in Bulgarian football have been going on for quite a while now.

"Some football clubs support themselves financially in this way," Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told Bulgarian private channel bTV last Friday when asked about the match-fixing claims

UEFA president Michel Platini, who was on an official visit to Bulgarian Sunday, said that the UEFA central has sent letters to the Bulgarian Football Union requesting information about official games of the national championship that are suspected to have been settled "outside of the field".

"It is not up to the Bulgarian Football Union and Mihailov to review the signals and to decide whether to refer matters to the prosecutor," stated Platinion this occasion , demanding fair play and transparency in the Bulgarian National Championship.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian state does not benefit in any means from the increased betting activity in the country. A total of BGN 1.2 B has been spent on online football match betting in Bulgaria 2008, while in 2009 the sum has increased to BGN 1.5 B. The money that has circulated in betting is expected to have reached record levels 2010. The state still does not gather any taxes, thus losing some BGN 150 M yearly, the GDBOP expert said.

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