Dusseldorf - The latest match-fixing scheme in European football is run by an organized crime style worldwide network, a German lawyer said on Friday. Burkhard Benecken, who represents a man who was detained recently over the scheme, also said that the betting rings not only approached players, coaches and officials.
Citing documents from the prosecution office in Bochum which is investigating the affair, Benecken said that team doctors and chefs of luxury hotels were approached and asked to poison certain players.
He also said that people were intimidated by being locked into cellars, and added that this use of force has led investigators to treat the issue as organized crime.
Bochum prosecutors announced last week that they are probing more than 200 matches in nine countries for fixing. Arrests were carried out in several countries.
Europe's football body UEFA said this week that it is also looking into seven qualifiers for the Champions League and Europa League this summer and named five suspected clubs from Albania, Latvia, Slovenia and Hungary.
