Fixed: The bombshell that will continue to rock football

How many people in football can be swayed by a certain amount of this?

World football was rocked by the news this week from Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, of a match-fixing scandal on an unprecedented scale. Whereas previous match-fixing scandals have appeared far away from the average English football fan, this one is much closer to home with World Cup qualifiers and even a Champions League match staged in England implemented in the ongoing investigation.But this revelation has been on the cards for a long time and the difficulties of tackling the issue will be in the news for many a month to come.

Well documented cases of match-fixing in European football include that of Bernard Tapie's Marseille - conquerors of the inaugural Champions League in 1993 yet who were stripped of their French title that same year, and the Calciopoli scandal which engulfed Italian football in 2006. This latest controversy puts both of those footballing disasters into perspective as a staggering 425 players and officials from over 15 countries are under suspicion. However, those who follow European football have been aware of this ticking time-bomb for some time.

Back in 2009, a match-fixing ring based in Asia was exposed after fixing or trying to fix up to 200 matches across Europe. Andreas Bachmann, based in Bochum, Germany, lead the police investigation and 14 people were convicted, ending up with combined prison sentences of 39 years. It is the result of further investigation into this that this week's announcement was made. More arrests are expected to be made as the investigation continues into the ring, which is apparently based in Singapore but with facilitators across Europe and beyond. While 380 European matches are under investigation, a further 300 from Africa, Asia, South America and Central America are also under the spotlight. 

With a huge world-wide betting market these days, including countless methods of betting in-play on relatively minor incidents such as yellow cards and corners, it is possible to envisage how money can be made from afar by these criminal networks. As thousands of people bet on all sorts of outcomes, it can be difficult to spot suspicious betting patterns, and this explains why the investigation has been running for so long to bring these criminals to justice.

Many think the Premier League is safe due to players being on high wages and the intense media scrutiny which covers every minute of every game. Yet it is a game staged at Anfield between Liverpool and Debrecen in 2009 which is reported to be the English-staged Champions League game under investigation, and that is the home of one of the most scrutinised football clubs in the world. While top class players, earning up to £250,000 a week, may be difficult to bribe, those at the lower end of the wage bill, plus match officials could be susceptible to financial offers.

One only has to look at Italy, where in 2012, the undoubtedly well-paid Lazio captain Stefano Mauri was arrested as part of a match-fixing scandal and Juventus manager Antonio Conte was given a lengthy touchline ban for failing to report match-fixing while at a previous club, to see that the highest level of football can certainly be affected by these criminal syndicates. The fixers have reportedly made a profit of €8m and with individual payments of up to €140,000 to corrupt players or officials, it is easy to see how the weak-minded and greedy may be tempted to turn their back on the morals of fair play in football.

Today Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballer's Association, put his neck on the line by claiming the Premier League is free of match-fixing and he may well be right. But how many lower league players could be tempted by the thought of earning tens of thousands of pounds just by conceding a yellow card or making a sloppy defensive error? Taylor admits the PFA, through FifPRO, the international players' union, work with betting companies to ensure action can be taken over every any irregular betting patterns. Allied with the fact the Premier League are pushing the Government and  European Union to make bookmakers pay them a compulsory fee which would go towards betting integrity measures, it is clear England's footballing authorities are well aware of the serious danger of match-fixing.

Spanish football may be particularly vulnerable to financial incentives. Outside the skewed, Hollywood world of Real Madrid and Barcelona, many clubs are in major financial difficulties and struggling to pay wages on time. Malaga, through to this year's Champions League knockout phase, are banned from next year's competition due to unpaid bills. In July, the club were in trouble for not paying the squad 40% of the previous season's wages. The financial situation in many other European leagues is similar, and with English clubs coming up against teams from these leagues regularly in continental competition, ensuring the Premier League remains free of match-fixing could be a perilous task.

UEFA and FIFA were not informed by Europol before Monday's announcement but are set to be consulted before they take their own action. But FIFA's head of security Ralf Mutschke insists a law-change is needed to make sure fixers are imprisoned for longer when caught. His point is a valid one, as while FIFA can ban players and officials involved in fixing for life, a sizeable punishment for a professional, the ring-leaders of the syndicates are not necessarily employed within football. Therefore, unless there is the strong deterrent of a major prison sentence, the vast financial incentive will continue to convince criminals to try and profit from the world's most popular sport. With the huge numbers involved, it's going to take a long time before the full implications of this scandal are felt and a lot longer before justice is brought to those involved. For the sake of fans across the world, we can only hope that justice is brought at all.