Rigged Matches and Corruption in the Moldovan Football
National Anticorruption Center prosecutors investigate eleven people in a criminal case of manipulating sports events. Presidents of football clubs, directors of sports schools, and players representing 5 teams out of 10 that play in the National Division figure in this case. The operation was carried out jointly with EUROPOL and UEFA, who provided technical, informational, and analytical assistance.
ZdG found important names in the National Anticorruption Center investigation, the former great football player Igor Dobrovolski, Olympic champion and the only holder of the League of European Champions in Moldova, now the head coach of Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol being one of them.
The Codru Lozova sports club issued a press release
“In recent years, football matches are the target of criminal groups, which act to cheat and manipulate football matches. Rigging matches has become a threat. This threat can be removed with the involvement of the entire football community and law enforcement agencies.”
The Moldovan Football Federation reaction
The Moldovan Football Federation (MFF) came with a reaction stating that they support the National Anticorruption Center and Europol investigations and condemn the corruption phenomenon. In order to combat the phenomenon, they created the MFF Integrity Department.
“We collect and store the information related to competitions and matches suspected of being rigged, and redirect it to the law enforcement bodies. We intend to sign an agreement with the Ministry of Interior and other force structures empowered to stop corruption in football.” shows the MFF communiqué.
According to the investigation, the money from the rigged matches varied between € 10,000-20,000, and they had connections with bookmakers in Asia and in the European Union. In July 2020 only, more than 20 matches were rigged and € 600,000 were obtained by fraud.
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