Русская версияIn the report to appear in the Monday, Sept.
1, edition of
Der Spiegel
newsmagazine, the Canadian journalist Declan Hill said his
research had shown that an Asian syndicate wanted Ghana to lose the
quarter-final match by at least two goals. Brazil went on to win
3-0 in Dortmund.
Hill, whose book on match-fixing will be published in Germany on
Tuesday, said three years of research had shown that a former Ghana
international had acted as the middleman between Ghana's players
and the head of a betting syndicate in Bangkok.
The German publication said its own research had shown two matches
in Germany to be suspicious after huge sums were placed on them by
a Malaysian who has been convicted of attempted match-fixing.
Bundesliga suspicions
According to the report, William Bee Wah Lim placed 2.8 million
euros ($4.1 million) with Asian bookmakers on Kaiserslautern losing
a first-division match at Hanover on Nov. 26, 2005. As a result of
Hanover's 5-1 victory he won 2.2 million euros.
Bildunterschrift:
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Karlsruhe returned to the German first division last year
He placed almost 4 million euros on Karlsruhe beating Sportfreunde
Siegen in a second-division match on Aug. 7, 2005. Karlsruhe won
the game 2-0.
The report said investigations had produced evidence that Lim had
contacts with players from Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe and
Sportfreunde Siegen, although the players have protested.
Lim was sentenced to a jail term of two years and five months a
court in Frankfurt in June 2007 after being convicted of attempted
fixing of matches in the German regional league (then third
division) and the Austrian first division. The two Bundesliga
matches were not part of the court proceedings.
He was released on conditional bail of 40,000 euros but has since
left the country. A warrant for his arrest was issued in January.
The German Soccer Federation (DFB) and German Soccer League (DFL)
said in a joint statement they wanted a comprehensive investigation
into the latest allegations.
The statement said there had been no grounds until now for thinking
either of the two matches could have been fixed. However the
company Sportradar has been instructed to carry out an analysis of
the matches.
(Deutsche Welle)
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