According to Belgian newspapers, two players and a trainer at First Division club Lierse and two players at Anderlecht, who were at Lierse last season, have been questioned by police as part of an investigation into gambling fraud in Belgian soccer.
Although the exact details are not known, the players named were goalkeeper Cliff Mardulier, defender Laurent Fassotte and goalkeeping coach Patrick Deman. Marius Mitu and Laurent Delorge, who now play for Anderlecht, were also questioned.
At least two matches played by the club in the 2004-2005 season had been fixed and Lierse lost them, while unusually large sums of money had been bet on the internet.
The public prosecutor, who is about to meet with betting exhange Betfair to get a list of Belgians who gambled on suspicious matches, questioned gambling experts to understand how Belgian soccer matches were gambled on from Asia. One expert has claimed 17 matches were “sold” this season and last year in the Belgian First and Second Division.
UPDATE: Paul Put, the coach who moved to Excelsior Mouscron in January after being fired by Lierse in November, admitted his involvement in fixing two matches because he felt his family\’s life was at risk.
“He said he had been threatened with having his legs broken or his daughter being harmed,” Excelsior Mouscroun Chairman Gil Vandenbroeck told Reuters.
The five players questioned by the police have been suspended by their respective teams, while Lierse also lost its main sponsor as a result of the scandal.
Calculators
