ATHENS, Dec 4 — Charges have been brought against 16 people in a huge investigation into match-fixing in Greek football, including the president of the country’s leading club, a police source revealed today.
Prosecutors did not provide the names of those charged with, amongst other offences, “participation in a criminal enterprise”, but the source indicated that they are the same as those targeted in a preliminary investigation.
Those included Evangelos Marinakis, the president of reigning champions Olympiakos, the club from the port of Piraeus who have won 16 of the last 18 league titles.
Officials from the Greek federation and referees have also been charged in the case for offences including “setting up, participating in and directing a criminal organisation, fraud, attempted criminal extortion and corruption.”
The investigation is centred on alleged fixing of matches between 2011 and 2013 with relevance to relegation and promotion battles.
Marinakis, a businessman and ship-owner who has owned Olympiakos since 2010, was previously implicated in another match-fixing scandal in 2010-11 which is still the subject of investigation.
Corruption is endemic in Greek football, while games in the top two divisions were halted for a weekend in November after a top refereeing official was attacked outside his home in Athens. — AFP
