Dom_Wren Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 from the current bun: £2m game ends in ‘fixed’ result that bookies had fearedBy SIMON HUGHES, Chief Investigative Reporter Published: Today Add a comment A TOP footie match which British bookies feared had been fixed to be a draw - ended in a draw yesterday. A massive £2million was staked with online giant Betfair on Italian clubs Chievo and Catania finishing level - with a further £217,000 on 1-1. It followed a flood of bets with High Street bookies after talk of a sting first emerged. Seven firms suspended betting by last Thursday. They had to pay out on bets placed beforehand. David Williams, from Ladbrokes, said: "We saw a lot of money for the draw and decided to pull the plug." A Victor Chandler spokesman said: "We feel vindicated." One UK professional gambler said: "As early as last Wednesday a lot of people were very confident this game would be a draw - talk about The Italian Job! "The amount of money was unbelievably high for two teams in their position. Neither is exactly a household name here and the game wasn't even televised." Chievo, from Verona, scored first in the 13th minute before Sicilians Catania equalised with a penalty in the 73rd minute in the Serie A match. Betfair confirmed it was a "heavily-backed draw". s.hughes@the-sun.co.uk http://tinyurl.com/ygwdlyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisVillan Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Wasn't heavily backed by me, I had a Chievo win. Trust me to randomly select a bloody rigged game to have a flutter on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 22, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted March 22, 2010 Incompetence yes, match fixing no. If I thought football was that bent that matches were being fixed, I'd have stopped watching it a good while ago Nail on the head Bicks. I'm staggered that the 18 people who have voted "yes" still watch football. I wouldn't bother if it was fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted March 22, 2010 Moderator Share Posted March 22, 2010 Fixed? No I don't think so. Unfairly influenced? yes without question. Right from the dates games are scheduled, to the selection of refs to the decisions in matches and the media coverage given to these decision. There is without doubt a certain level of outside influence on the results of games from these things that is a factor in the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted March 22, 2010 Moderator Share Posted March 22, 2010 Incompetence yes, match fixing no. If I thought football was that bent that matches were being fixed, I'd have stopped watching it a good while ago Nail on the head Bicks. I'm staggered that the 18 people who have voted "yes" still watch football. I wouldn't bother if it was fixed. Ditto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabby15 Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 The Italian draw thing goes way back - Have a read Trust me to not see the tip on another forum until after the bloody game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 22, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted March 22, 2010 Fixed? No I don't think so. Unfairly influenced? yes without question. Right from the dates games are scheduled, to the selection of refs to the decisions in matches and the media coverage given to these decision. There is without doubt a certain level of outside influence on the results of games from these things that is a factor in the results. Agree with this too. but that's a long shot from being fixed. A ref being influenced by media or manager pressure exists, no doubt. But that doesn't constitute a fixing in my opinion. Fixing a game is someone, or several parties, agreeing before hand on a result and the game panning out that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granville Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 I voted yes (I think :oops:), but I don't think an entire match has ever been orchestrated for a betting scam or the like. IMO though it's quite likely certain people have exchanged some special envelopes in payment for certain services at some point it the PL's history. Suffice it to say that I am in no doubt that there are people in positions of power at PL clubs who would do it if they thought they could get away with it. I don't know if that's everyone's definition of a fixed match but I'd consider it to be firmly of that side of the fence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted March 22, 2010 Moderator Share Posted March 22, 2010 Fixed? No I don't think so. Unfairly influenced? yes without question. Right from the dates games are scheduled, to the selection of refs to the decisions in matches and the media coverage given to these decision. There is without doubt a certain level of outside influence on the results of games from these things that is a factor in the results. Agree with this too. but that's a long shot from being fixed. A ref being influenced by media or manager pressure exists, no doubt. But that doesn't constitute a fixing in my opinion. Fixing a game is someone, or several parties, agreeing before hand on a result and the game panning out that way. Yep that is how I see it as well, I wasn't saying that those influences on the game equate to match fixing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted March 22, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted March 22, 2010 I think north of 99% of PL games aren't fixed. But that still leaves a game or two every season that probably are. Not too long ago, people wrote off clubs going into administration as something that would only happen in lesser leagues because there was too much money in the PL to have a PL club go into administration. People are writing off match fixing as something that only happens in lesser leagues because there's too much money in the PL for match fixing to occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 From the 'The Standard of Refereeing' thread Some professor bloke reckons the refs are dodgy However, Dr Witt admitted there was evidence that referees’ behaviour had shown some bias in other ways, including towards certain clubs. and seeing as he has sent a copy to the FA and the refs association we can expect this corruption of our game to be stamped out forthwith, lol. So the outcome of certain matches are influence in favour of certain clubs. But we couldn't call that 'fixed' could we. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted March 24, 2010 Moderator Share Posted March 24, 2010 I think north of 99% of PL games aren't fixed. But that still leaves a game or two every season that probably are. Not too long ago, people wrote off clubs going into administration as something that would only happen in lesser leagues because there was too much money in the PL to have a PL club go into administration. People are writing off match fixing as something that only happens in lesser leagues because there's too much money in the PL for match fixing to occur. I'm really not sure the two things are the same or that anyone is saying that match fixing wouldn't happen in this country due to the money in the Premier League. I'm not if I'm honest sure how that logic would work, if anything the greater financial aspect of the PL makes it more rather than less of a target for those who may wish to fix matches. I personally just believe in the integrity of the game in this country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 I personally just believe in the integrity of the game in this country. Why on earth would you do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 if i thought it was fixed i wouldnt be able to watch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 ok heres a great example of how i think match fixing occurs. remember that year when west ham were going to get relegated? they ha dto go to old trafford and win to stay up and united were exceptional at home that season and then west ham go there and win 1-0 to stay up coincidence? then tevez ends up on loan at united hmmmmmmmm and what about the whole food posioning incident with spurs? has just been swept under the carpet and no-one from media, sky mentions it. no charges were ever made either. as much as i ahte spurs they were absoutely screwed that day due to foul play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyav Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 about 10 years ago everton SHOULD have been relegated as there last game was fixed (alledgedly) and everyone knew it, that was brushed under the carpet as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 What game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 If they were..I would never watch again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 about 10 years ago everton SHOULD have been relegated as there last game was fixed (alledgedly) and everyone knew it, that was brushed under the carpet as well. That was 1994, 16 years ago. With Wimbledon goalie Hans Segers letting a few in. There was a big investigation into that but I think Segers (and fashanu) got away with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 ok heres a great example of how i think match fixing occurs. remember that year when west ham were going to get relegated? they ha dto go to old trafford and win to stay up and united were exceptional at home that season and then west ham go there and win 1-0 to stay up coincidence? then tevez ends up on loan at united hmmmmmmmm and what about the whole food posioning incident with spurs? has just been swept under the carpet and no-one from media, sky mentions it. no charges were ever made either. as much as i ahte spurs they were absoutely screwed that day due to foul play. Manchester United had already won the league, they rested a few players like Ferdinand and others. Because they had already won the league and had nothing to play for, the desire was not there. Spurs were not screwed, a few players were vomiting, so what, there was no sabotage at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts