UEFA experts to visit Cyprus for contacts over match-fixing

A UEFA group of experts on combating fixed matches will visit Cyprus on January 27 at the invitation of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA).

According to CFA, the UEFA delegation will hold meetings with the Minister of Justice and Public Order, the Police, as well as football clubs to brief them on the process followed to send a report to UEFA for possible fixed matches through betting.

The delegation will comprise the head of Mission, a UEFA investigator and a representative of Sport Radar, a company that has the responsibility to gather data for the UEFA’s betting fraud detection system.

According to CFA, UEFA’s visit comes after a proposal submitted by the Association’s President George Koumas during a meeting with the Justice Minister and the Police Chief.

The visit comes as football matches were suspended last weekend due to a bomb attack against a football referee while a 30-year old footballer was arrested and released in the framework of investigations in connection with matches that saw irregular betting activity.

CFA Chairman meets referee association

Earlier this week, CFA Chairman George Koumas met Sunday with the referees’ association to discuss the developments regarding the Cyprus football games, following a decision by CFA to call off all league matches when referees announced last Friday to abstain. The decision came in the wake of a bomb attack against a football referee in Larnaca earlier in the day.

The issue was also discussed on Friday at a meeting at the Justice Ministry following the bomb attack. The UEFA team is expected to cooperate with the Cyprus Police to investigate the matches for which the European football governing body issued the notices, over suspicion of foul play. They will also train representatives of football clubs on how to deal with them.

The meeting at the Justice Ministry was chaired by Minister George Savvides and in the presence of Cypriot Police Chief Michaelides and CFA Chairman George Koumas.