UEFA investigates ref over betting patterns
Reuters - Wednesday 16 December 2009, 13:12
BERNE - Bulgarian referee Anton Genov is
being investigated by UEFA after irregular betting patterns
emerged over an international friendly in which he awarded four
penalties.
"Following obvious irregular betting patterns on the
Macedonia v Canada (friendly) on November 14, and after
interviewing the referee in question, UEFA has decided not to
appoint Anton Genov to any European matches until further notice
while more investigations are carried out," European soccer's
governing body said in a statement on Wednesday.
The penalties, two to each side, were all awarded in the
second half of Macedonia's 3-0 victory.
Goran Pandev converted both penalties for Macedonia while
Canada missed theirs, Iain Hume sending the first effort wide
and Simeon Jackson having the second saved.
On Monday, the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) dismissed its
refereeing commission for the second time in 15 months, citing
an increasing number of mistakes from officials.
Several clubs have criticised refereeing this season and
champions Levski Sofia last month called for the resignation of
BFU president Borislav Mihaylov and referees' chief Dimo
Momirov.
German police also said last month they had dismantled a
match-fixing ring with more than 200 suspected members operating
in nine European leagues.
Police in Germany, Britain, Austria and Switzerland cracked
down on the ring, staging simultaneous raids that resulted in 15
arrests in Germany and two in Switzerland.
The ring was reported to have tried to fix around 200
matches across the continent.
On Friday, UEFA president Michel Platini described
match-fixing as the biggest scourge facing the sport.