Liverpool match-fixing allegations ´dealt with´

Debrecen have dealt with claims of attempted match-fixing allegedly in a 2009 Champions League clash against Liverpool.

The Premier League side said there has been ‘no contact’ from Europol, the European Union’s criminal investigation arm, who have reportedly included the Reds’ 1-0 Champions League group stage win over the Hungarian outfit in an investigation into match-fixing.

Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet claimed the 2009 fixture at Anfield is one of the matches under investigation, but stressed that no accusation has been leveled at Liverpool.

And the Hungarian club say that a two-year ban handed out to their goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic in 2010 for not reporting match-fixing approaches before the Liverpool match confirm that the incident has been dealt with.

In a Debrecen statement first published in 2010, the club reiterated: “In the view of the Uefa Disciplinary Committee, Vukasin Poleksic failed to comply with his duties when he did not report to Debrecen that before two Champions League matches unknown people tried to persuade him to influence the result.

“The investigation revealed that Poleksic rejected the requests. Furthermore, the probe found that the matches were not influenced by anything connected with the bribery.

“But the player committed an error by failing to inform the authorities immediately, therefore he was punished for not meeting the reporting requirement.”

Meanwhile, a spokeperson for the Anfield club confirmed to Goal.com that neither Europol nor UEFA have yet made contact with them regarding the matter.

The report in Ekstra Bladet claimed Serbian goalkeeper Poleksic was approached by fixers intending to rig the betting market for total goals in the fixture, though that ultimately failed as Debrecen only conceded one goal, courtesy of Dirk Kuyt’s winner.

Liverpool are understood to be uninvolved in the accusations and no one at the club is alleged to have acted improperly.

Poleksic was also involved in another match that German police had established was fixed – Debrecen’s 4-3 loss to Fiorentina in the same Champions League campaign.

Poleksic was later banned for two years by UEFA for failing to report the approach from a Croatian-led criminal gang. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) later upheld the ban after Poleksic claimed innocence.

Europol are investigating 380 suspicious matches in 15 countries, though director Rob Wainwright refused to identify the match in question because of ‘ongoing judicial procedures’.