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The Daily Insight

Is football match fixing real?

Author

David Jones

Updated on April 02, 2026

Match fixing is when the outcome of a match in organized sports has been manipulated. The reason for fixing a match includes ensuring a certain team advances or gambling. Match fixing is seen as one of the biggest problems in organized sports and is considered as a major scandal.

Are soccer matches rigged?

THE WORLD’S MOST popular game is also its most corrupt, with investigations into match fixing ongoing in more than 25 countries. Soccer match fixing has become a massive worldwide crime, on par with drug trafficking, prostitution and the trade in illegal weapons.

Are some soccer matches fixed?

Some 300 football games a season are fixed in Europe’s top leagues, experts say. The former German football manager Sepp Herberger once famously said that people go to football matches because they do not know who will win.

Is fixing a match illegal?

Match fixing, when motivated by gambling, requires contacts (and normally money transfers) between gamblers, players, team officials, and/or referees. These contacts and transfers can sometimes be found, and lead to prosecution by the law or the sports league(s).

How is match-fixing prevented?

Raising awareness, education and training for all target groups, including athletes, coaches, referees and officials, are therefore key elements of prevention.

How is match fixing prevented?

How common is match fixing in football?

How common is match-fixing? There are no exact numbers of fixed matches. According to Europol, less than 1% of football matches are suspected to have been fixed. Regardless, football is by far the most targeted sport by international organised crime.

What was the Lazio match-fixing scandal?

This was a huge scandal in European football which led to Milan and Lazio being relegated from Serie A after a newspaper discovered that two greengrocers in Rome had masterminded a match-fixing ring involving players from Lazio, who were regulars in their restaurant.

What are the most famous match fixing scandals in football?

7 of the Most Infamous Match Fixing Scandals That Shook World Football 1 Totenero (1980) 2 West Germany vs Austria (1982) 3 Marseille are Stripped of the Title (1993) 4 Bruce Grobbelaar (1994) 5 Calciopoli (2006) 6 Italian Drink-Spiking (2011) More

What was the 2009 European football betting scandal?

The 2009 European football betting scandal was considered to be the biggest affair in European football since the 2005 football scandal of referee Robert Hoyzer and the Bundesliga-scandal in the 1970/71 season when numerous players, coaches and officials were involved in game shifts.

Who was involved in the Verl match-fixing scandal of 2009?

On 27 November 2009, the club announced the denunciation of the Croatian players Davor Kraljevic, Marijo Marinovic and Dinko Radojevic in association with the match-fixing scandal. On 24 November 2009, Regionalliga club SC Verl suspended midfielders Patrick Neumann and Tim Hagedorn from games and training.