For all the investigations of conspiracies, match-fixing and corruption in world football, it’s nice to know that some clubs out there are happy just to blow the whistle on themselves.
That’s exactly what happened today when the mighty Syrianska Kerburan of Sweden’s fourth-tier took the unusual step of reporting themselves to police over “suspicions of match-fixing.”
The decision was made by the club after it recognized that an abnormally large amount of bets had been placed on it’s opponent, Kvarnshedens IK, during a recent home match. The action was so unbalanced, in fact, that oddsmakers stopped taking money on the game, which Syrianska promptly lost 5-1.
Thereafter the club decided unanimously to report itself to police to ensure a thorough investigation and issued the following statement -
All people - players, coaches, the club board and employees - who had any involvement in the club’s representative team activities shall now be considered subject to police investigation.
So there you have it - honesty among thieves. Think this kind of candor will ever go down in places like Turkey or Italy? I hear you laughing.
