Corruption in European football

According to a report from Newsweek, FIFA is currently digging into what might be the largest match-fixing scandal in the history of European soccer. We're looking at 26 different matches spanning Champions League qualifiers, the Europa League, and the EP. Most of the teams under the microscope seem to hail from Eastern Europe, including some outfits from the States and Mexico. FIFA has already handed over a massive mountain of documentation to the FBI.
I suspect there's a direct link to organized crime syndicates out of Asia. Since there aren't actually that many teams from the US or Mexico involved in these specific qualifying rounds, I honestly think we'll see official announcements very soon that confirm everything we already suspected—it was just a matter of finding the actual evidence, right?
For those of you who happen to read German, you can track down the full investigation on the Newsweek website.
http://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball...520732,00.html

Maybe the FBI finally cleans up Mamić if Bajić can't get to him first.

Ćiro said match-fixing in soccer just isn't a thing,

blueridge32 said:Ćiro said match-fixing in soccer just isn't a thing,

I don't know, I guess Ćiro just always seems to say the exact opposite of whatever the truth actually is.😉

casualfox112 said:I don't know, I guess Ćiro just always seems to say the exact opposite of whatever the truth actually is.😉

nah, he's just got zero foresight

unbelievable... you still haven't fixed the headline! it's not "fraud," it's "scam"—and it's "European," not "europskom"... get it together😠

copperdriver21 said:unbelievable... you still haven't fixed the headline! it's not "fraud," it's "scam"—and it's "European," not "europskom"... get it together😠

And it's peak comedy to write:
soccer (football)

on an American forum, but someone eventually fixed it later.

I honestly can't believe my eyes 😲

Sky is reporting that this could be a sign that England finally makes it to the EP.
They’re even throwing America into the mix as one of the places where the cheating went down 😕

Honestly, I haven't a clue what's actually happening here, but figured I'd pass it along. 🙂

Sky is reporting that this might be the sign we need to see England finally qualify for the EP.

😂

copperdriver21 said:unbelievable... you still haven't fixed the headline! it's not "fraud," it's "scam"—and it's "European," not "europskom"... get it together😠

Look, I’m telling you, it’s not even a debate if you actually look at the rules, because there are literally style guides out there that give you the green light for both options! It’s like when you’re arguing about whether a hot dog is a sandwich—people lose their minds, but technically, depending on which culinary manual you're holding, you could go either way. It’s the same deal with grammar; some authorities say one thing, others say another, and honestly, if you follow the right guide, you aren't wrong regardless of which path you take. It's just a mess of conflicting opinions, really.

Yeah, one is American, and the other is Mexican.

It’s honestly mind-blowing how some people spend more time obsessing over grammar than actually talking about the damn subject, yet nobody bothered to report this sketchy-ass thread title 🙄

The fans of the rival club are finally admitting they rigged their European matches. A few years back, their team suffered a humiliating loss in Malta, and I’ll be the first to admit I couldn't stop poking fun at them for it. At the time, they tried to claim that Zecevic and Bjekovic had fixed the game to rake in money from the betting houses. Then, just two or three seasons ago, they lost 5-2 at home against Maccabi, and naturally, I had to tease them again. Once more, their supporters scrambled to make excuses, insisting the match was thrown and that Zecevic and Bjekovic had pocketed massive sums by betting on a Maccabi win and an over of 7+ goals. When you actually ask them why they didn't just fix the score to a narrow 1-2 win or rig it so they would win 5-2 instead, they never seem to have an answer; it seems it's only ever "rigged" when they happen to lose.

Well, at least now we know that the Cypriots, Albanians, and all those other big shots aren't actually any better than we are.😁

briskdrifter40 said:The fans of the rival club are finally admitting they rigged their European matches. A few years back, their team suffered a humiliating loss in Malta, and I’ll be the first to admit I couldn't stop poking fun at them for it. At the time, they tried to claim that Zecevic and Bjekovic had fixed the game to rake in money from the betting houses. Then, just two or three seasons ago, they lost 5-2 at home against Maccabi, and naturally, I had to tease them again. Once more, their supporters scrambled to make excuses, insisting the match was thrown and that Zecevic and Bjekovic had pocketed massive sums by betting on a Maccabi win and an over of 7+ goals. When you actually ask them why they didn't just fix the score to a narrow 1-2 win or rig it so they would win 5-2 instead, they never seem to have an answer; it seems it's only ever "rigged" when they happen to lose.

Oh, please. Even the Yankees sold out a Champions League semifinal once upon a time.

blueridge32 said:Ćiro said match-fixing in soccer just isn't a thing,

😂 😂

The only time I’ll ever remember Ćiro is that one Osijek - Cibalia 0:0 match. The brass over at Cibalia (the club I actually root for...) was basically ready to pay up for a scoreless draw a day before we even hit Osijek. A zero-zero result worked perfectly for everyone involved if they just wanted to stay in the league...
There wasn't a single shot on goal during that entire game. Meanwhile, us fans were busy brawling in the stands—the Kohorta versus the ultras... and those suits in management, led by Ćiro, were just sitting there laughing their heads off at us.🙄

wallace As if anyone actually cares what he thinks.
It’s honestly unbelievable... you guys still haven't managed to get a decent headline right. It isn't "scam," it's "fraud," and it shouldn't be "European"—it needs to be "Euro." Just fix it already.😠

Can you ever truly forgive me? I originally kicked things off back on the old B92 forums, thinking that was where the real conversation lived.
I honestly wouldn't hold my breath; I suspect Americans will only start showing a genuine interest in these kinds of financial frauds once they realize how much it’s actually hitting their own pockets.
Turns out that assumption was dead wrong; there isn't any corruption happening over in Mexico.
The content in this American thread is nothing more than a lazy copy-paste job straight from a news site like CNN.
I suppose I should add a little postscript here, though at this point, what else is there to say? It’s all just more of the same noise we deal with every single day in this country.
I suppose I’ll start paying closer attention to my American grammar and spelling from here on out, mostly because I have zero desire to accidentally bruise anyone's national pride. If you really want, I could even start a thread over on CNN using nothing but pristine, textbook American English as a sort of gesture of good faith—a little way of showing I’m truly sorry for the slip-ups. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Daniel Garcia54 said:

wallace As if anyone actually cares what he thinks.
It’s honestly unbelievable... you guys still haven't managed to get a decent headline right. It isn't "scam," it's "fraud," and it shouldn't be "European"—it needs to be "Euro." Just fix it already.😠

Can you ever truly forgive me? I originally kicked things off back on the old B92 forums, thinking that was where the real conversation lived.
I honestly wouldn't hold my breath; I suspect Americans will only start showing a genuine interest in these kinds of financial frauds once they realize how much it’s actually hitting their own pockets.
Turns out that assumption was dead wrong; there isn't any corruption happening over in Mexico.
The content in this American thread is nothing more than a lazy copy-paste job straight from a news site like CNN.
I suppose I should add a little postscript here, though at this point, what else is there to say? It’s all just more of the same noise we deal with every single day in this country.
I suppose I’ll start paying closer attention to my American grammar and spelling from here on out, mostly because I have zero desire to accidentally bruise anyone's national pride. If you really want, I could even start a thread over on CNN using nothing but pristine, textbook American English as a sort of gesture of good faith—a little way of showing I’m truly sorry for the slip-ups. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Look, boss, get one thing straight: regardless of where people are from, regular folks love talking about this stuff publicly. They're just terrified of the fallout...
I’m a massive Cibalia fan. I used to put up posters all over town back when we were being called out by major networks like PBS and the local papers. It was because of a flyer I made—which I plastered all over the city—calling out how Cibalia's games were being rigged. Most of the older crowd completely lost their nerve. They were terrified they'd lose their jobs. Even placidcyclist5 was like, "Do you have any idea who you're messing with?" or "I'm gonna have problems in my life..." 🙄 Only the younger guys had my back.
It’s damn hard to fight this alone... like Don Quixote fighting windmills 😉 ...but I'm always going to fight for honest football. 😉

So, Ćiro is claiming there’s no match-fixing?

Every single fan from the Marosnija or Zadar areas knows the deal—matches between those two teams are always rigged.