In Turkey and Cyprus, the training of teams from different countries, which are holding a significant number of matches, continues.
Francesco Baranca"Unfortunately, among these matches there are also those that are played "at the office". At least this can be said, based on the monitoring of representatives of the Ukrainian Football Association. Based on this data, we can talk about a total of more than 30 matches with a high probability of manipulation.
Clubs from different countries take part in such matches. They are often organized very quickly, unannounced and behind closed doors, with the only spectators being agents (they are often involved in the manipulation scheme) and betting scouts. The latter are a necessary part of the manipulation, because they provide an opportunity to place bets around the world on matches without any sporting value.
We can say with a high degree of probability that referees could be the key to manipulations in many matches this year.
It is worth noting that while in Ukraine they are trying to do everything to protect against fixed matches, Russian teams are active participants in ghost matches and fixed matches.
It is significant that the Ukrainian football player, who was disqualified in Ukraine for contractual matches, is now waiting for another disqualification because he is currently a player of one of these Russian teams. His FC "Fakel" (Voronezh) is a participant in a significant number of suspicious matches. We can state that football cheats from Ukraine are moving to Russia.
The UAF continues to fight against the manipulation of football matches, while also trying to help all interested parties and associations of other countries. Also, the UAF is fighting hard to block betting (and therefore against match-fixing) in matches involving youth or of no particular value. This is exactly what is stated in the Macolin Convention, which was ratified by Ukraine," commented the head of the UAF Ethics and Fair Play Committee, Francesco Baranca.
