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Spanish police arrest coach in match-fixing scandal

Xinhua, April 5, 2017 Adjust font size:

Spanish police have arrested the coach of third tier side Eldense in relation to a match-fixing scandal which has shocked the Spanish game.

The scandal revolves around Eldense's 12-0 defeat away to Barcelona-B on Sunday, in a match they were losing 8-0 at half time.

The defeat is the joint heaviest defeat in the history of the category and leaves Eldense rooted to the bottom of the table, which Barcelona's B team lead.

Directly after the game, one Eldense player, Cheikh Saad claimed four of his teammates had helped deliberately lose the game, while David Aguillar, the president of the Eldense temporary board of directors also confirmed that something illegal had taken place.

Police have now arrested Eldense's Italian coach Filippo Vito di Pierro, while the man who had been the club's director general in representation of an Italian investment group which recently purchased the club, Nobile Capuani, was also taken into custody.

Some of the Eldense players were also questioned by police, while the club sacked 12 members of its playing staff, including the unnamed four who Cheikh Saad said were involved in the match fixing.

The incident is thought to be related to an Asian based betting ring with Aguillar commenting he had noticed some strange decisions being made by Di Pierro in recent matches.

Meanwhile Saad told the Spanish media he had refused to enter the game as a substitute as he didn't want to be involved in the affair; "In the end, everything will be revealed," said the player. Endit