Quote:The Austrian footballer who stood up to the match-fixers or did he?

Scandal strikes Austrian game after allegations of blackmail and gun-point threats lead to the sacking of a player

• 
  
• • Philip Oltermann in Berlin
    
  • theguardian.com, Tuesday 19 November 2013 09.53 GMT
    

Dominique Taboga has been sacked by SV Grödig but whether he is the hero or villain of the piece remains unclear. Photograph: Expa/Johann Groder/EPA

On 27 October Red Bull Salzburg played SV Grödig in what was only the second derby between the two Salzburg teams since the early 1970s: a classic David v Goliath match between the moneyed league leaders and the recently promoted newcomers.
Deep into added time Grödig's Dominique Taboga tackled the Salzburg winger Dusan Svento in the area. Salzburg's players appealed for a penalty but the referee waved play on. Salzburg were leading 3-0 at that point, so few people bothered to complain afterwards. But there are plenty of reasons to scrutinise that tackle now.
Last Monday Taboga told his club that he had been blackmailed for more than €87,000 (£73,000) by a criminal gang after refusing to get involved inmatch-fixing. Salzburg police were alerted and on the following day three men were arrested after Taboga handed them another €3,000 at a pre-arranged meeting.
One of the three men was Sanel Kuljic, a former Austria international who had started his career at Grödig and gone on to become the Austrian Bundesliga's top scorer for two seasons in a row, while playing for Austria Vienna. Kuljic and Taboga had played together at Kapfenberger SV until spring 2012.
Kuljic's lawyer claimed Taboga was merely paying back money loaned to his client but the story seemed clear: here was a player who was bravely standing up to the match-fixing mafia. Austria's Krone tabloid quoted an internal police report which said that Taboga had been threatened thatrefusing to cooperate could have "grave consequences" for him and his family and that his career could come to a "sudden end".
At one point the Grödig player was reportedly held at gun-point in order to record a match-fixing admission that could later be held against him. The club seemed to support its player.
Then, in the middle of the week, the story turned. First Taboga admitted that he had paid €30,000 to his alleged blackmailers so far, instead of the almost €90,000 claimed previously. Then he withdrew the claim that he had been held at gunpoint.
Finally it was reported that the 30-year-old had admitted to trying to incite four other Grödig players to fix a match last season: the victim suddenly looked more like a perpetrator.
On Thursday morning Taboga was sacked. His coach said: "I am deeply disappointed in Taboga because he captained our team several times and was an absolute leader on the pitch. We knew he had financial problems but we didn't realise there was manipulation going on. We are all very shocked".
On Friday Salzburger Nachrichten wrote that Taboga had offered to fix the derby against Red Bull Salzburg by causing a penalty, allowing Sulim D, one of the three men arrested on Tuesday, to place a bet worth thousands of euros and thus repay his debts. During the match Taboga had allegedly tried to commit a foul but failed and in the ensuing dispute the affair had got out of hand. Taboga disputes this version of events.
Whether Dominique Taboga is the villain or the hero of this piece remains unclear. What is certain is that there have been suspicions about match-fixing in Austrian professional football before. In December last yearKurier newspaper revealed that a group of First Vienna players had fixed at least three matches in the second division.
In April this year several hundred thousand euros were bet in Asia on Grödig losing their match against Kapfenberg. Grödig were top of the table at the time, captained by Taboga.
Matthew Benham, the managing director of Smartodds, singled out the Austrian Bundesliga as one of the leagues in Europe most susceptible to match-fixing: "Austria and Spain are worrying," he told 11 Freunde magazine in February.
The Austrian league has not always shown a particular willingness to engage with such accusations. When Europol released a report on match-fixing in Europe this year which again pointed the finger at Austria, the Bundesliga chairman, Georg Pangl, said that "the largest part of the revelations are old hat. Europol should be more structured and thought-through in the way it goes about these things."
Similarly the Bundesliga president, Hans Rinner, on Friday criticised neither the players nor clubs at the heart of the latest allegations but Graz court for releasing details about match-fixing allegations without prior consultation with the league federation. "The naming of the Bundesliga clubs involved will trigger speculation and rushed judgments that can do serious reputation damage," he said in a statement on the federation's website.
Whether it is wise to stop speculation at this stage is questionable. The day before Taboga went to the police last week Grödig drew 2-2 with Rapid Vienna. Rapid scored the equaliser five minutes before full-time: a penalty, caused by a clumsy Dominique Taboga tackle.

Quote:

The Hague, the Netherlands


6 February 2013





A major investigation involving Europol and police teams from 13 European countries has uncovered an extensive criminal network involved in widespread football match-fixing. A total of 425 match officials, club officials, players, and serious criminals, from more than 15 countries, are suspected of being involved in attempts to fix more than 380 professional football matches. The activities formed part of a sophisticated organised crime operation, which generated over €8 million in betting profits and involved over €2 million in corrupt payments to those involved in the matches.
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT), codenamed Operation VETO, ran between July 2011 and January 2013. Led by Europol, Germany, Finland, Hungary, Austria and Slovenia, it was also supported by Eurojust, Interpol and investigators from eight other European countries. The investigation coordinated multiple police enquiries across Europe and was facilitated by intelligence reports from Europol, based on the analysis of 13,000 emails and other material, which identified links between matches and suspects and uncovered the nature of the organised crime network behind the illegal activities. The investigation has since led to several prosecutions in the countries involved, including Germany where 14 persons have already been convicted and sentenced to a total of 39 years in prison.
"This is a sad day for European football and more evidence of the corrupting influence in society of organised crime. But this investigation also proves the value of international police cooperation in fighting back against the criminals involved. Europol and its law enforcement partners are committed to pursuing serious criminals wherever they operate. Unfortunately this also now includes the world of football, where illegal profits are made on a scale and in a way that threatens the very fabric of the game. All those responsible for running football should heed the warnings found in this case," says Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol. He also confirmed that he will be sharing the results of the investigation with UEFA President, Michel Platini.
Among the 380 or more suspicious matches identified by this case are World Cup and European Championship qualification matches, two UEFA Champions League matches and several top-flight matches in European national leagues. In addition another 300 suspicious matches were identified outside Europe, mainly in Africa, Asia, South and Central America.
"We have evidence for 150 of these cases and the operations were run out of Singapore with bribes of up to 100 000 euros paid per match. Even two World Championship Qualification matches in Africa, and one in Central America, are under suspicion," says Fridhelm Althans from Bochum Police, Germany, and a spokesman for JIT Veto. This information will be shared with Interpol for further action in the context of its long-term efforts to work with a broad community around the world to crack down on this problem.
"Match fixing is a global issue requiring strong partnerships at the national, regional and international levels not only to target and dismantle the criminal networks making millions in illicit profits, but also to implement training programmes to better protect all those involved in football," said Mr Gianni Baldi, Head of Interpol's Drugs and Organized Crime Unit.
The organised criminal group behind most of these activities has been betting primarily on the Asian market. The ringleaders are of Asian origin, working closely together with European facilitators. During the investigation, links were also found to Russian-speaking and other criminal syndicates.
The international nature of match-fixing, exposed in this case, presents a major challenge to investigators and prosecutors. One fixed match can involve up to 50 suspects in 10 countries, spanning different legal frameworks and definitions of match-fixing and betting fraud.
Ms Michèle Coninsx, President of Eurojust, commented: "International cooperation was the key to the success of this challenging cross-border case, involving more than 30 countries. Coordination meetings at Eurojust, including video conferences with Asian counterparts, facilitated the opening of new investigations and the resolution of complex judicial issues. Eurojust provided access to funding for JIT Veto, one of the largest JITs in history." The successful outcome of JIT Veto proves both the added value of Eurojust and the JIT Funding Project, which in 2012 financed 62 different JITs involving 22 Member States.
JIT Veto investigations are still ongoing.

Danny Jarman Wrote:As someone who has worked in the industry for some time I can tell you this happens alot. All over the world from Australia to England. Some teams are even owned by businessmen as satellites for their own betting interests.

The Austrian leagues have always been deemed "high risk", but it's the tip of the iceberg.

The Fenerbache and Turkish scandal showed us a peek through a crack in the wall.