Several arrests in Portuguese football match-fixing scandal

By Chris Wright, in Sport · 19-05-2016 13:40:00 · 0 Comments

Four Oliveirense players stand accused of accepting 3500 euros each to lose their final Segunda Liga game at home to Leixões. The Judicial Police (PJ) used wiretaps to ensnare the players.

Also standing accused are Leixões SC president Carlos Oliveira and the club’s Director of Sport Nuno Silva. The main target of the PJ operation ‘Jogo Duplo’ were criminal schemes associated with online gambling.

Many Second Division players are on less than a thousand euros per month and many only receive their wages months in arrears. Just last week Joaquim Evangelista, president of the Professional Footballers Association said, “given the weak position of Oliveirense, I was alerted to the non-payment of wages. We must strengthen the control mechanisms and take a more rigorous look at the registration of clubs.”

Fifteen players and officials have been arrested so far by the PJ and at the present time Oliveirense, Oriental (Lisbon), Leixões and Ac Viseu are under investigation.

