Rayo squad deny match-fixing allegations

MADRID, May 13 (Xinhua) - The squad of struggling Spanish BBVA Primera Liga side, Rayo Vallecano held a joint press conference on Friday in order to deny allegations of match fixing.

The Spanish press on Thursday reported that the club was being investigated by the Spanish Football League (LFP) as the result of reported irregularities in betting which were detected during their 2-1 defeat away to Real Sociedad last Sunday as odds on a win for the home side plummeted.

The entire Rayo squad and coach Paco Jemez appeared together to face the press on Friday with Jemez insisting his players had not deliberately lost the game or that there had been a fight in the club' s dressing room.

"The moment you should make accusations is when you have proof. It is a lie," said Jemez, while club captain Roberto Trashorras also defended the integrity of his companions.

"I would put my hand into the flame for all of them. This side is clean," he insisted.

Meanwhile the club also published a communique insisting the squad was "not going to allow our honesty, integrity and professionalism to be doubted ... nor are we going to allow the good name of the club to be stained."

That result left Rayo second from bottom of the league and needing to beat Levante in their last game of the season, while hoping that neither Getafe nor Sporting Gijon win their respective matches.

The communique highlights that the majority of the players have contracts which include an "important reduction in earnings if we drop to the second division," which meant they would have no "possible interest," in losing last weekend. Endit