Former footballers Dominique Taboga, Sanel Kuljic and ‘several other people’ have been charged in connection with the Austrian match-fixing scandal which came to light last year, state prosecutors said on Monday. Reuters reported that prosecutors in Graz said that they would not give any further details for the time being while investigations continued.
Taboga was initially hailed as a whistle-blower when he claimed he was being blackmailed to manipulate results, although it later transpired that he was more involved in events than he initially suggested. He left Austrian team Groedig by mutual consent on 14 November after the club said he had admitted trying to persuade four team mates to manipulate matches and in February he was given a life ban by the Austrian Football Federation.
Kuljic, who retired in 2012, played for Austria 20 times between 2005 and 2007 and was joint topscorer in the Austrian Bundesliga in 2005/06 for SV Ried with 15 goals.
Last November criminal investigators suggested that up to 17 first and second division matches could have been manipulated in the last seven years, nine of these were in the top flight Bundesliga and three involved Groedig. Nine of the 17 matches involved former Bundesliga club Kapfenberger, which was relegated at the end of the 2011-12 season.
Football integrity is one of the many issues that will be debated at next month’s Betting on Football Conference, held at Stamford Bridge on 8 May.
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