Norwegian police open match-fixing probe
Reuters - Monday 09 July 2012, 12:44
Norwegian police have opened an
investigation into allegations of match-fixing following a
complaint from the country's FA (NFF), the NFF said on Monday.
The NFF called off Sunday's second division game between
Ullensaker/Kisa and Ham Kam shortly before kick-off as football authorities suspected efforts had been made to fix the result.
"This morning we made a complaint and the police will now
begin their work," NFF president Yngve Hallen said in a
statement.
"The NFF and clubs will assist the police as best they can,
which also means that we cannot comment on specific issues
related to the case."
Hallen said that Norwegian authorities were working closely
with their international counterparts during the investigation.
"There is very close cooperation between UEFA, Interpol and
the EU on this and it has been on the agenda for a long time,"
he told Norwegian radio station NRK.
Hallen told a news conference on Sunday he believed large,
international criminal networks were behind efforts to fix the
results of matches in Norway's lower leagues.
An investigation into a third division match between
Ostsiden IL and Follo FK on June 24 had revealed a link to the
Ullensaker-Ham Kam game.
Ostsiden won the match 4-3 after being 3-0 down against
Follo.
The NFF said irregular betting patterns had been noticed in
relation to both games but the clubs themselves were not
suspected of any wrongdoing.
NFF communications director Svein Graff told newspaper
Verdens Gang that the association's complaint contained the
names of individuals, as well as the circumstances surrounding
the two games and how the alleged match-fixing came to light.