The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime
Page 36
No official authority in Finland ever said that this match was fixed.
The closest Finnish football authorities ever got was to say that the team was “insufficiently prepared” and to fine them 10,000 euros (Reuters, August 4, 2005).
Interview with SO 41, February, 2008.
The same curious lack of action was seen when Betfair …
Van den Abeele, Chris, Eric Dupain, Wim Straemans, Tom van de Weghe, and Kris Dechamps. “Tackling the Mafia.” Panorama. VRT Belgium. February 5, 2006.
Taildeman, Yves. “L’UB a Déjà Contacte Betfair.” La Dernière Heure (Brussels). February 10, 2006.
Ye Zheyun’s libido
Suspension of the investigation
Interview J 16, LE 15, February 2008.
Fourteen players, are you joking?
Delepierre, Frederic. “‘On M’A Proposé 200,000 Euros.’” Le Soir (Brussels). February 7, 2006. 36.
The confession of Laurent Fassotte
Laurent Fassotte appearing before the Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association Commission d’Enquête. March 8, 2006.
Problems in Intertoto and early Champions League matches:
Interviews with SO 29, B 9, 12, 18, 19, March 2004 to February 2008.
He had a case recently in the Intertoto Cup …”
Interview with SO 28, March 2004.
UEFA estimating that fifteen to twenty-seven games were fixed:
Interview with SO 29, 30, May and December 2007.
See also: Hawkey, Ian. “UEFA launches inquiry after claims of 15 fixed matches.” Sunday Times (London). December 2, 2007.
Foundation of the first professional leagues
Vamplew, Wray. Pay Up and Play the Game: Professional Sport in Britain, 1875–1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Inglis, Simon. Soccer in the Dock: A History of British Football Scandals, 1900–1965. London: Willow Books, 1985.
1934 World Cup qualifying match between Italy versus Greece had been fixed
Hersh, Philip. “Allegations of Corruption Marring Sport.” Chicago Tribune (Chicago). June 7, 1998. Sports 13.
“Weltmeisterschaft 1934 – World Cup 1934, Fussball Weltzeitschrift.” Journal of the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. Kassel. No. 28–31, 1995/96.
CHAPTER 9: THE GOLDEN AGE
Sources for description of the crash:
Gregg, Harry, and Roger Anderson. Harry’s Game: The Autobiography. London: Mainstream, 2002.
Arthur, Max. The Manchester United Aircrash: 25th Anniversary Tribute to the Busby Babes. London: Aquarius, 1983.
Charlton, Bobby. “I Survived – and Still Feel Guilty.” Excerpt from Manchester United Limited Edition Opus, 2006, printed in The Times (London). December 11, 2006 5–7.
Connor, Jeff. The Lost Babes: Manchester United and the Forgotten Victims of Munich. London: HarperSport, 2006.
Crick, Michael, and David Smith. Manchester United: The Betrayal of a Legend. London: Pan Books, 1990.
“It is strange that up to the moment …”
Arthur, 21.
They were cheats …”I bloody knew”
Gregg, 92–96.
Interview with Harry Gregg, August 2005.
“Golden Age”
The National Football Museum at Preston can be accessed at www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/pages/news/04/finney.htm.
Nice, clean game …
Bartholomew, James. The Welfare State We’re In. London: Politico, 2005. 9–14.
Stanley Matthews was considered the greatest English player of his generation, roughly equivalent to the contemporary Ronaldinho. His name was also a by-word for gentlemanly conduct. Vinnie Jones is a footballer turned actor, famous for his toughness. The picture of him squeezing the testicles of another player was a bestseller in England in the 1990s.
“I don’t know what sport he …”
Interview with Harry Gregg, August 2005.
“Since I first set my sights on Soccer as a career …
Ford, Trevor. I Lead the Attack. London: Stanley Paul and Co, 1957. 13.
“Viper of bribery …”
Ford, 21.
Background on Ford
Ford, Trevor. “Trevor Ford in Conversation with Ron Jones.” Rec. Wales Video Archives in conjunction with the National Library of Wales, Cardiff. November 3, 2000.
“Football great Ford dies.” BBC Sport. May 29, 2003. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/ sport1/hi/football/internationals/wales/2948388.stm.
Richards, Huw. “Ford, Trevor (1923–2003).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Available at www.oxforddnb.com/ vew/article/89974.
See also “New soccer bribes sensation – nine named: Trevor Ford Confesses.” The People (London). April 1963. 1, 11.
“For five seasons in a row I scored forty goals …”
Pearson, Harry. “North-East of Eden.” When Saturday Comes. November 2004, 24–25.
“It was not the last time he would speak out against match-fixing …
Clough, Brian, with John Sadler. Walking on Water: My Life. London: Headline Publishing, 2004. 88–94 and 201–203.
Glanville, Brian. Champions of Europe: The History, Romance and Intrigue of the European Cup. Enfield: Guinness, 1991. 82–112.
Ken Chisholm and “Before people get hot under the collar this kind of ‘arrangement’ was commonplace …”
Inglis, 76.
In going through the newspaper archives, I found another twenty-four players who spoke of the fixing that was going on in that era.
Ernie Hunt was one of the footballing artists …
Westcott, Chris. Joker in the Pack: The Ernie Hunt Story. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus Publishing, 2004.
There are many men in football today,
Hardaker, Alan, with Byron Butler. Hardaker of the League. London: Pelham Books, 1977. 90–95.
Some of Gabbert and Campling’s stories are:
Gabbert, Michael and Peter Campling. “How Two ‘Bookies Cashed in on Fixed’ Matches.” The People (London). May 3, 1964. 1.
Gabbert, Michael, and Peter Campling. “The Day the Fixers Were Fixed – by Blackmail!” The People (London). April 1963. 1.
Many English people still remember the story …
Gabbert, Michael, and Peter Campling. “The Biggest Sports Scandal of the Century” and “Soccer Bribes: Today We Accuse Three Famous Players.” The People. April 12, 1964. 1–6.
Swan, Peter, with Nick Johnson. Peter Swan: Setting the Record Straight. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Stadia,2006. 15–26, 125–146, and 159–160.
What most people do not recognize …
Inglis, 202.
Hardaker’s attempts to ban The People …
Ibid, 200.
Conditions for players in the league
Ford, 14–16.
Interview with Harry Gregg, August 2005, and Sir Tom Finney, June 2007.
Speech at Trade Union Congress
Imlach, Gary. My Father and Other Working-class Heroes. London: Yellow Jersey, 2005. 67.
“If I could stand the pain of it I would write another kind of football book …
St. John, Ian, and James Lawton. The Saint: My Autobiography. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 63.
“a brilliant little winger”
Ibid, 57–66.
When you got injured at Old Trafford …
Interview with Harry Gregg, August 2005.
Background on Sir Tom Finney
Imlach, 148–149.
“Well, the club just said no and that was it …
Interview with Sir Tom Finney, June 2007. Note: Sir Tom Finney also disagreed with James Bartholomew. He claimed the level of player violence in the sport is about the same level as it was then.
Tickets touts and the players
The example of Sir Bobby Charlton and Harry Gregg selling their FA Cup tickets is in Harry’s Game. The practice was very common, and many pla
yers knew the infamous Stan Flashman – The King of the Touts. For example, Frank McLintock, the Arsenal captain of a later era, writes of players and football officials partying with the King of the Touts, Stan Flashman in True Grit: the Frank McLintock Autobiography. London: Headline Publishing, 2005.
Illegal gambling on every street
Interview with SO 15, March 2006.
Mental arithmetic
See, for example, Preston, Ian, and Stefan Szymanski. Cheating in Contests. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. 612–24.
Many of the team officials were also corrupt …
See Ford, Inglis, St. John, and Imlach’s books for numerous examples of the owners’ corruption exploitation of the players.
“And one young man stood up …
Interview with Harry Gregg, August 2005.
Interview with Tommy Banks, February, 2008. Banks confirmed this incident and made two points: one, he had worked as a coal miner and so could have done the father’s job; and two, when news of his speech and its impact on the other players was printed in the newspapers, he was fired from his team and never played professional football again. Banks also confirms the match-fixing that was going on and says that he was even approached once to sell a game for £1000, which he immediately turned down.
“People I wouldn’t want my choice to be my company in life …
Interview with Harry Gregg, August 2005.
But the fixing, to a much lesser degree, went on into the 1970s
See, for example, McLintock, 186–87, where McLintock writes of the Leeds manager Don
Revie offering him a free holiday if “takes it easy.”
Harry Gregg says after he left Manchester United there were, he heard, other fixes.
CHAPTER 10: TO FIX OR NOT TO FIX?
Social conditions of Kaliningrad
Campi, Giovanni. “Is Kaliningrad Taking Its First Steps Toward the EU?” Cafebabel.com. July 26, 2006.
Tapes of football match being fixed
These transcripts were published in October 2004 by Kaliningrad’s Noviye Kolesa newspaper, and their validity was confirmed by a number of independent sources. My thanks to Paer Gustafsson, Natalia Gorina, Eugene Demchenko, Ekaterina Korobtseva, Ekaterina Kravchenko, Svetlana Guzeeva, Alisa Voznaya, and Maria Semenova for their translation and insight on this case.
See also O’Flynn, Kevin. “Tapes Expose Russian Football Bribery Scandal.” The Times (Moscow). October 14, 2004. 41
Cost of relegation to lower division
Hughes, Rob. “Relegation Battle Could Play in Court.” International Herald Tribune. U.K. ed. May 7, 2007 .Sport, 17.
Yevgeny Giner, has spoken openly of paying incentive payments to teams
“CSKA president admits paying incentives to clubs.” Reuters. November 20, 2006.
In May 1993, Jean-Pierre Bernès and Bernard Tapie decided to fix a football match …
Broute, Remi. “La Match de VA-OM Se Joue Maintenant Devant la Justice.” Les Archives Integrales de L’Humanite (Paris). March 13, 1995.
Staff writer. “Tapie Projects Secret.” Le Point (Paris). October 21, 1995.
“Go-Between Describes Corruption Throughout European Soccer.” Associated Press. August 12, 1995.
Value of Manchester United
In 2004, the club was valued at close to £740 million. Available at www.forbes.com/lists/2007/34/biz_07soccer_Soccer-Team-Valuations_Value.html.
No legal action was ever taken against Chepel or the Baltika club
Staff writer. “Head of Russian Football Club Baltika Quits After Match-fixing Claims.” Moscow News (Moscow). October 28, 2004.
O’Flynn, Kevin. “Soccer Awash in Match-fixing Scandals.” The Times (London). November 10, 2006. 41.
Details of Larisa Nechayeva’s murder
“Woman Boss of Moscow Soccer Club Shot Dead.” Daily Telegraph (London). June 17, 1997. Available at www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml=/archive/1997/06/17/wmos17.html.
“Well, it was frightening, in about a six-month period …”
Stephen Warshaw, interviewed for PBS Frontline, October 1999.
Transcript can be accessed at www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hockey/interviews/warshaw.html.
Stand-off between the commandos and Russian soldiers
Wallace, Scott. “Treading on Red Ice: Hockey and the Russian Mob.” Penthouse (New York). July 1997. 28.
The entire VIP box at Shakhtar Donetsk was blown up
Boggan, Steve. “How Bribes and Secret Bank Accounts Led to a Bomb in the Directors’ Box.” Independent (London). August 7, 1999. 3.
Alleged to be connected to the mob’s exporting of nuclear missile parts …
Kuper, Simon. Football Against the Enemy. London: Orion, 1994. 55–63.
“Be careful, I had the Ukrainian mafia after me … ”
Interview with SO 28, March 2004.
Story of Alex Ferguson and Manchester United being threatened …
Ferguson, Alex, with Hugh McIlvanney. Managing My Life: My Autobiography. 2nd ed. London: Coronet, 2000. 307, 364–65.
The agent, who ended up as an official of Spartak Moscow, denies the incident took place.
List of murdered Russian soccer personalities
From the following articles:
Brennan, Dan. “Soccer Russian style.” Scotland on Sunday (Edinburgh). July 6, 2003.
Smirnov, Mikhail. “Soccer Becomes Increasingly Dangerous in Russia.” RIA Novosti. February 10, 2005.
Hughes, Rob. “One Law for Big, One Law for Small.” International Herald Tribune. February 18, 2005. 20.
“Molecule by molecule,” and the battle for CSKA Moscow
Badkhen, Anna. “Soccer Tale of Guns, Ransom, Fear.” Moscow Times (Moscow). December 6, 2000. Available at www.moscowtimes.ru/article/881/49/256878.htm.
CSKA ownership structure
Wilson, Jonathan. “Why It Is Boom Time for Russian Football.” Guardian (London). October 31, 2006. Available at http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/Sport/2006/10/31/why_its_boom_time_for_russian.html.
Unwashed shirts
Warshaw, PBS Frontline, October 1999.
“Almost 30 per cent …”
Interview with author, January 1999.
Dozens of the presidents of the private banks in Moscow were assassinated in mob-style killings.
For a good overview of life in Russia at that time, see Stephen Handelman’s book.
Skater’s car and killing of Nusuyev
“‘Pure Human Jealousy:’ Car Bomb Derailed Russian Skater’s Preparations.” Reuters. December 29, 1999.
“Former Russian Sports Official Linked to Olympic Scandal Killed.” Pravada (Moscow). August 30, 2005. 1.
See also: Jackson, Jon, with James Pereira. On Edge: Backroom Dealing, Cocktail Scheming, Triple Axels, and How Top Skaters Get Screwed. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2005. 209, 291.
Boxing Champion
“European Junior Boxing Champion Sergie Latushko Was Gunned Down.” Reuters. March 3, 2000.
Story of Slava Fetisov
Friedman, 179–186.
Also PBS Frontline; see Fetisov’s interview at www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hockey/interviews/fetisov.html.
“I had a case a few years ago …”
Interview with SO 20, September 2004.
Trust is the oil of the favour bank
There are a number of academic journal articles and books that examine how covert, corrupt deals are put together. See, for example, Lambsdorff, Johann Graf. “Making Corrupt Deals.” Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization. 2002: 48, 221–41. Also della Porta, Donatella, and Alberto Vannucci. Corrupt Exchanges: Actors, Resources, and Mechanisms of Political Corruption. New York: Walter Gruyter, 1999.
The Moggi Tapes
In July 2006, the Italian Football Association held a hearing into the case, and confirmed that Moggi and Juventus had been fixing games. Moggi was banned from the game for five years; Juventus was demoted into a lower di
vision.
Most of the tapes were released by the Italian media in the first week of May 2006; see, for example, Toti, Giuseppe. “Suscitano Scalpore le Conversazioni fra Personaggi Eccellenti Arbitri & Telefonate.” Corriere della Sera (Milan). May 4, 2006.
The transcripts are also in English on the web at http://calcioitaliascandal.blogspot.com/2006/05/wiretaps.html.
Moggi has, in general, kept a low-profile, refusing most media interviews. One of his exceptions was when a journalist reportedly asked him if he would ever return to soccer. “Of course … but this time I’m going to be the guy who breaks everybody’s balls. I’ll finger them all, by their first names and their surnames. I’ll break the balls of all the false moralists of this world who think that everything is clean now because they got rid of … Luciano Moggi.”
See, Burke, Jason. “Paradiso to inferno,” The Observer Sport Monthly (London), July 30, 2006. Available at www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/jul/30/footbal.com/features.
See also “Moggi contro tutti: Ritornerò!,” Calcio, Blog.It. July 27, 2006. Available at www.calciobloc.it/post/1196/moggi-contro-tutti-ritornero.
The tapes were fake and that, anyway, they had been illegally obtained.
O’Flynn, Kevin. “Tapes expose Russian football bribery scandal.” The Times (London). October 14, 2004. 41.
Staff writer. “Head of Russian Football Club Baltika Quits After Match-fixing Claims.” Moscow News (Moscow). October 28, 2004.
Rudnikov story
Poleskov, Konstantin. “For what ‘Kolesa’ is overrun. The Kaliningrad Court closed the opposition newspaper. The Publisher and Journalists do not give up.” Novaya Gazeta (Kaliningrad). August 2007.
Interview with Igor Rudnikov, January 2008.
Rudnikov was finally released in the fall of 2007, after spending months in the Russian prison system.
International PEN Writers in Prison Committee. “Half-yearly Case List.” June 30, 2007. 54.
“Every week in Putin’s Russia …”
Interview with Human Rights Watch, June 2007.
CHAPTER 11: HOW TO FIX A FOOTBALL GAME