Italy’s latest match fixing has lurched into full view with one Serie A player banged up for a night in the cells as a result. Stefano Mauri, captain of Lazio, is the most notable of those detained with former Genoa midfielder Omar Milanetto also among the 19 people taken in by the police. The name of Juventus is back on the news pages for the wrong reasons as well with boss Antonio Conte also questioned by officers investigating the allegations along with Zenit St. Petersburg’s Italian international Domenico Criscito. It’s all part of the “Last Bet” investigation and, according to Raffale Grassi, director of SCO, the police service responsible, it’s almost entirely focused on Serie A.
“In this part of the investigation, indications have emerged of manipulation in matches from the 2010-11 Serie A championship, including games between Lazio and Genoa and Lecce and Lazio,” Grassi told SkyTG24 according to the Daily Mail.
30 homes have been searched as part of this investigation and five people in Hungary were also detained. It was only last summer that Cristiano Doni was banned for over three years with former Lazio striker Giuseppe Signori banned for five years. Those in the country will continue to work hard to rid the country of fixing. You do start to think that most now believe the problem is endemic in the fabric of the country’s favorite sport. The reason it seems like every year there’s a match fixing scandal in Italy is that…every year there’s a match fixing scandal in Italy.
Three players at a German club have denied allegations they bet against their own team in a game this season. Der Spiegel reports the DFB have initiated an investigation against three players from Rot-Weiss Essen for a game that took place on 5 May against Borussia Dortmund II. The game ended 4-0 to Dortmund and it’s alleged that Dirk Jasmund, Gungor Kaya and Kevin Lehmann wagered against Essen to lose. Following the season all had their contracts terminated with the investigation continuing regardless.
