European police revealed this week their investigations show that soccer around the world is being undermined by match fixing, claiming they have found at least 700 suspicious matches and identified more than 400 suspects. Chris Rattue looks at previous scandals that have rocked the world's number one game
The Fix
Three top English club players were jailed and banned for life - later reduced - for placing £50 ($94) bets at 2-1 on their Sheffield Wednesday team to lose against Ipswich Town. Ipswich won, although fair and square according to one of the crooked players. Two of them, Peter
Swan and Tony Kay, were strong candidates for the England team that went on to win the 1966 World Cup. The players were unmasked by a newspaper - their crimes occurring when the English tabloid press was starting to flex its muscle - and about 30 others were netted from the three-year-old betting ring.
A judge told the ringleader he had "befouled" the sport, and he wanted to deter other "evil-minded" sports fraudsters. This story was the subject of a film, The Fix. Swan, a world class defender, ended up working in a bakery shop and was even prevented from watching his son play while banned. He has said: "We let a lot of people down and it will be with me until I die."
Dirty linen
Bruce Grobbelaar, Liverpool's clown prince of goalkeeping, was brought down by a newspaper sting in the 1990s. The accusations included that he took £40,000 to ensure Liverpool lost a match to Newcastle, which they did by 3-0. Technically, Grobbelaar - who was accused alongside two players from other clubs - eventually triumphed in the courts, but this was a Claytons victory. The Law Lords savaged his reputation, and he was bankrupted by the legal proceedings. His ex-wife belatedly put the boot in, declaring him guilty. She detailed secretive phone calls Grobbelaar would conduct in their house and the thousands of pounds he stashed in an airing cupboard.
L'affaire du Totonero
An elegant name for a dirty business involving a syndicate tampering with Italian Serie A and B matches around 1980. Arrests were made, clubs relegated, points deducted, players banned ... kind of. One of the culprits was Paolo Rossi, whose three-year ban was reduced, enabling him to play in the 1982 World Cup finals. Rossi was the goalscoring star as Italy became world champions. One accuser has admitted to lying against Rossi, who maintains his innocence.
