Slap on the wrist penalties against teams who cheated

[alani123]

A couple of seasons ago a Swedish footballer in Greece accused the team of a rich mogul that they were fixing matches, even citing specific examples about the play out games on the country's top league.

The issue took two years for the league's ethics committee to deliver a verdict and the verdict was just... A deduction of two points for the current season which has already started.
 
Which is so crazy to me. How can a team be proven to fix a match and get away with anything other than severe sanctions? That owner should be barred from owning a team in the top league for at least a handful of years in my opinion. But when football becomes all about the money match fixing can be the norm I guess.

Some Greek teams might be actually good in terms of international play after having millions pumped to enrich their roster recently but that doesn't mean that the local league's should be considered fair. I sure as hell wouldn't trust my own country's league with much in betting money if they aren't caring enough to squash match fixing.

Has something like this happened in your country's league?
When match fixing allegations were confirmed was there a serious punishment? A slap on the wrist? Nothing?

[crwth]

That's very lenient. Seeing it as only a two-point reduction? It deserves more, or maybe a punishment similar to what other countries use.

I think some countries have player bans and criminal prosecutions. Maybe that's what they could do. These types of scandals should be dealt with more harshly to make sure they don't happen again.

[Churchillvv]

When the lawmakers and the interpreters of the law are culprits of the same crime through indirect benefits, you hear in the final judgements that my hands are tied but proceed to give a meaningless or less aggressive judgement or punishment for the crime committed.

So I’m not surprised with just how the case could be missed. Neither have i seen or heard about my country leagues fixing matches but it’s not something that can’t happen since money is the drive of the owners, who come together not one club owner but several others come together to discuss how to make more money by fixing the games so it’s hard for it not to be true or happen severally even before the case was investigated.

Surely this is very disappointing so but I’m not going to act like a saint if we got the opportunity to get insider information about the mixed match, likely 90 of people will use the advantage rather than being rational.

[348Judah]

Issues related to match fixing is what make most the gamblers not to always admit for playing small leagues is because of the issues related to match fixing, but I still don't want to believe all this because some of those allegations does not even have claims to prove the truly happen in real life, it is better we just gamble for fun and erase our mind of all these.

[Nwada001]

I can remember reading about this on Reddit last year or earlier this year, but upon searching now, I can’t find a link to how the investigation actually ended and what led to the decision of 2 points only being deducted for the new season.

And if there is actually evidence found that the president of the club and some executives are involved in the match fixing only to end up with such punishment, then they are creating room for more corruption in the future by other club members.

When the punishment is light and the reward for the crime is large, they will always want to commit it and get involved; after all, it’s just 2 points compared to how much will be made off such a match.

[Alex077]

A couple of seasons ago a Swedish footballer in Greece accused the team of a rich mogul that they were fixing matches, even citing specific examples about the play out games on the country's top league.

The issue took two years for the league's ethics committee to deliver a verdict and the verdict was just... A deduction of two points for the current season which has already started...

Yeah, losing just two points really does seem like a pretty mild punishment if the team’s involvement in match-fixing was actually proven. Stories like this hurt not only the club involved, but also trust in the entire league, especially among people who bet on those matches.
We’ve had some serious match-fixing scandals in Ukraine as well. There have been investigations, players and clubs have been suspended, and some teams have received fines and points deductions. The problem is that these investigations often take a long time, and proving the direct involvement of club owners or management is much harder than proving the involvement of individual gamblers.

In my opinion, the punishment should make match-fixing financially pointless.  The punishment needs to be serious enough that the risk is much greater than any potential reward, otherwise people will gradually lose trust in the league itself.

[Jegileman]

I don’t follow my country’s league that much because of how poorly is it being managed. Although, I have not heard of any match fixing event before that a team was found guilty of. If such allegations are ever true, I am sure some penalties will be taken but I’m not sure how the severity of it will be compared to what they’ve committed, I don’t fully trust them on that.

Corruption, big mogul’s involvement and all can influence the final penalty, so I’m not surprised by the level of punishment given to this team you cited as an example. They deserve more punishment and where justice is not rightly served, people will lost trust and confidence in the whole sport in that region.

[Frankolala]

This means that match fixing isn't a big offense in Sweden which was why they didn't take the penalty seriously. I see it as a means to encourage match fixing if not, why will they reduct only two points from the team that was involved in match fixing. This is why I only bet on the top five big leagues where I know that they penalty for match fixing is severe and people will be scared to fix matches. I don't know if my local league fix matches because I don't watch it.

[MAAManda]

To properly understand the context of this topic, I think we should mention the teams involved in the events mentioned by @OP. So, the 2 teams involved in this match-fixing are Volos & Panserraikos, happened in 2 matches.

Image Source: ESPN


Image Source: ESPN

Just a note for you guys, since both teams have been proven to be involved in match-fixing, I think it would be wise to blacklist them from your betting plan.

Has something like this happened in your country's league?

Yes, that certainly happened in my country (Indonesia), causing our FA (PSSI) to even face sanctions from FIFA in the form of a ban. It was a dark age for us, because football is the most popular sport here.

[JoyMarsha]

A two-point deduction, that's not a punishment in any way. I wouldn't be surprised if the same team or another team tried their own match-fixing to get a minor punishment if caught because this will be a reported act.

Under football law, match-fixing is a punishable offense that shouldn't be treated lightly because whatever judgment that is being passed will neither curb match-fixing nor increase the rate at which it exists. Local leagues shouldn't be an exception to be given a strict verdict for teams when they are found guilty of any misconduct of any type.

[swogerino]

A couple of seasons ago a Swedish footballer in Greece accused the team of a rich mogul that they were fixing matches, even citing specific examples about the play out games on the country's top league.

The issue took two years for the league's ethics committee to deliver a verdict and the verdict was just... A deduction of two points for the current season which has already started.
 
Which is so crazy to me. How can a team be proven to fix a match and get away with anything other than severe sanctions? That owner should be barred from owning a team in the top league for at least a handful of years in my opinion. But when football becomes all about the money match fixing can be the norm I guess.

Some Greek teams might be actually good in terms of international play after having millions pumped to enrich their roster recently but that doesn't mean that the local league's should be considered fair. I sure as hell wouldn't trust my own country's league with much in betting money if they aren't caring enough to squash match fixing.

Has something like this happened in your country's league?
When match fixing allegations were confirmed was there a serious punishment? A slap on the wrist? Nothing?

Even worse, I have seen theater here, a team who was going to fall from top league where I live was taken in the top flight thanks to all teams leaving the games for them to win in the worse theater play and nothing happened to there. Where I live is not far from Greece in fact we share a border, as in Albania in the year 2011 was the most tragic of all for Albanian football. Skenderbeu this team who cheated almost all games become top contender and won titles, even qualified historically for the first time an Albanian team to Europa League group stages, where they were found to buy matches, they won against Sporting Lisbon 3-0 and this game was bought. UEFA punished them with 10 years out of European competitions and the team was dissolved, only lately they come back to top league. In the national level nothing happened to them, even here though just -2 points means nothing.

[Adbitco]

This match fixing is becoming more common in some European countries, although it's the smaller leagues, at least when it happened in the Serie A, Juventus was punished by being relegated to the Serie B with some funds at least that's a better punishment for me compared to this punishment I just saw of 2 points deductions. More severe punishment should be taken, only then can this be reduced. If the punishment is severe, teams will think twice before agreeing to such a thing.

[Miles2006]

Match fixing allegation is one common act recently ruining small leagues, match fixing doesn’t make sense and the awareness knowing a match is scripted for an extra gain sounds weird.
I only see statements made online yet not proven, I sometimes believe guys who come out to share stories and thought about match fixing but, now this post proves everything is true.
The punishment is not fitting for an offense that requires a ban, why give punishment based on point deduction? Two points deduction is not a punishment rather they’re just making everything so obvious, indirectly passing a message.

[Cantsay]

Has something like this happened in your country's league?
When match fixing allegations were confirmed was there a serious punishment? A slap on the wrist? Nothing?

I think this might be the first time I have seen something like this.

But won't this leniency lead to or encourage more teams to be involved in it? This is match fixing we are talking about here, there was evidence, and yet they gave such a relaxed punishment to those involved? This kinda makes me wonder if those giving out the punishment are also involved in it, because there is no logical reason as to why they would take such action against a crime like that.

[Moreno233]

Some Greek teams might be actually good in terms of international play after having millions pumped to enrich their roster recently but that doesn't mean that the local league's should be considered fair. I sure as hell wouldn't trust my own country's league with much in betting money if they aren't caring enough to squash match fixing.

Has something like this happened in your country's league?
When match fixing allegations were confirmed was there a serious punishment? A slap on the wrist? Nothing?

Match fixing is not peculiar to Greek league, it is a global problem issue that happens even in the big leagues like English premier league. Just that it is extremely confidential in some league that it appears as if it does not happen. There is a game called pools that is popular in my country, this game uses matches from all over the world and operate based on match fixing because the matches selected are said to be fixed.

[Stable090]

A couple of seasons ago a Swedish footballer in Greece accused the team of a rich mogul that they were fixing matches, even citing specific examples about the play out games on the country's top league.

The issue took two years for the league's ethics committee to deliver a verdict and the verdict was just... A deduction of two points for the current season which has already started.

From the punishment, should I say the organizers are also involved in the crime going on, that’s why they decided to give them that kind of punishment. How will you say punishment for match fixing is just deduction of two points, it doesn’t make any sense to me.

We all know how serious the crime could be, and we know the kind of punishment which is suppose to be attached to a crime like this, how comes all the can do is just to reduce 2 points form them, then the organizers also have shares from the crime which the team is committing. If they are so lenient with the punishment, then am sure other clubs will start something like that also, because they know if they are caught, they just going to face 2 points deduction.

[lombok]

Match fixing is not peculiar to Greek league, it is a global problem issue that happens even in the big leagues like English premier league. Just that it is extremely confidential in some league that it appears as if it does not happen. There is a game called pools that is popular in my country, this game uses matches from all over the world and operate based on match fixing because the matches selected are said to be fixed.

This is true considering the fact that match fixing in soccer games is a black hole engulfing top world competitions. Match organizers in leagues ensure the odor of collusion is hidden in order to preserve the worth of the international broadcasting rights.

Pool tickets become wealthy by exploiting games where the winners have been decided. Illicit global gambling fund guarantee that the outcome of soccer games becomes sheer business theater.

[yixichloro2xx]

Some Greek teams might be actually good in terms of international play after having millions pumped to enrich their roster recently but that doesn't mean that the local league's should be considered fair. I sure as hell wouldn't trust my own country's league with much in betting money if they aren't caring enough to squash match fixing.

Has something like this happened in your country's league?
When match fixing allegations were confirmed was there a serious punishment? A slap on the wrist? Nothing?

Match fixing is not peculiar to Greek league, it is a global problem issue that happens even in the big leagues like English premier league. Just that it is extremely confidential in some league that it appears as if it does not happen. There is a game called pools that is popular in my country, this game uses matches from all over the world and operate based on match fixing because the matches selected are said to be fixed.

I can't recall any case of match fixing in the English premier league. I believe this match fixing happens in country whose football isn't known. Since they don't have much viewership from the international fans, so people won't know about it. Most times the match can be fixed by top guys who wants to bet . This cannot happen even the top 5 league in Europe, , because UEFA will know and investigate the teams involved and the punishment attached is severe. Just like what happened to Juventus in the 2000s, they were relegated to their lower division. Imagine outrage on the internet if Manchester United fixed a match with Sunderland, every fan base will take about it on tiktok and Twitter and other platforms. First is fine, then relegation. We can all see the type of punishment awaiting Manchester city because they broke FFP rules which is a lesser offence than match fixing.

[yahoo62278]

A couple of seasons ago a Swedish footballer in Greece accused the team of a rich mogul that they were fixing matches, even citing specific examples about the play out games on the country's top league.

The issue took two years for the league's ethics committee to deliver a verdict and the verdict was just... A deduction of two points for the current season which has already started.
 
Which is so crazy to me. How can a team be proven to fix a match and get away with anything other than severe sanctions? That owner should be barred from owning a team in the top league for at least a handful of years in my opinion. But when football becomes all about the money match fixing can be the norm I guess.

Some Greek teams might be actually good in terms of international play after having millions pumped to enrich their roster recently but that doesn't mean that the local league's should be considered fair. I sure as hell wouldn't trust my own country's league with much in betting money if they aren't caring enough to squash match fixing.

Has something like this happened in your country's league?
When match fixing allegations were confirmed was there a serious punishment? A slap on the wrist? Nothing?

The NBA just suspended Steve Ballmer, Los Angeles Clippers owner, for 1 year along with their president of business operations. There were a whole lot of other sanctions that took place that everyone can read about HERE. Basically they circumvented salary cap rules to pay Kawhi Leonard.

I think even that is really a slap on the wrist even though the team got alot of things taken away. Cheaters need suspended for life and maximum jail sentences IMO. In this case the owner, 2 presidents of different operations, and a player should have been gone for life.

[robelneo]

Has something like this happened in your country's league?
When match fixing allegations were confirmed was there a serious punishment? A slap on the wrist? Nothing?

Game fixing is a serious offense here in our country. The regulators will give an individual or a team a heavy penalty and possible revocation of licenses and franchise, sports organizations where members are found guilty of game fixing will lose their reputation, and the public will stop supporting the events.
The sports commission should not impose light penalties, or there's going to be a repeat of the offense.