The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) announced today that they have given first division club Marek a fine of LEV10,000 (€5,500) after receiving notifications from UEFA about suspicions of match-fixing.
"The (BFU's) disciplinary commission imposed a fine of 10,000 levs ($6,500) following an official notification from UEFA for serious doubts about the participation of Marek in league matches with a pre-arranged outcome," The BFU said in a press release.
It is being said that the BFU made the decision after having received a 45-page report from Uefa, where one of the main issues to the suspicion was coming from a bookmaker who claimed that two Marek away losses had an usual betting pattern and very heavy betting compared to normally. Marek lost 3-0 to Ludogorets and 5-0 to CSKA Sofia.
"We insist on a detailed investigation and we expect concrete evidence to be provided. On behalf of the club, I declare that if such evidence is not provided, we'll turn to court because it damages the prestige of Marek." Chief Executive of Marek, Ivo Pargov said to the local Bulgarian media.
It is far from the first match-fixing situation that has been in recent years in the Balkan and eastern European area and it seems that it's a growing problem in the poorer area's of the world, where players are more prone to accept a bribe.
