Madrid - Spanish judicial authorities are investigating the
possibility that last season's UEFA Cup semi-final between Bayern
Munich and Zenit St Petersburg could have been rigged.
A spokeswoman for the National Court confirmed a report in
Wednesday's El Pais and ABC dailies, but said no details could be
given on an ongoing investigation.
According to the newspaper reports, the investigation has followed
a claim by a suspected Russian criminal boss, Gennady Petrov, in
Spain.
Petrov, arrested earlier this year in Majorca, had been heard in a
tapped telephone conversation boasting Zenit's success in the
semi-final had been bought 'for 50 million.' No currency was
mentioned.
Petrov is suspected of being the head of the Russian mafia clan
Tambovskaya in St Petersburg, Spanish reports said.
His alleged right-hand man, Leonid Khristoforov, who has also been
arrested, had reportedly bragged that he had forecast the outcome of
the second-leg match which Zenit won 4-0
Zenit beat Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate, including the 4-0 win
over the German side in Russia on May 12, the highest Bayern defeat
in Europe for 31 years.
Zenit then went on to win the final by beating Glasgow Rangers 2-0
in Manchester.
According to the reports, Spanish investigative magistrate
Baltasar Garzon has informed German prosecutors of the investigation.
However Munich prosecutors said they were not aware of any
investigation while Bayern said in a statement that it too knew
nothing of the claims.
'Bayern Munich knows as little about this suspicion as the Munich
prosecutors,' said the club. 'We will attempt to obtain all
information available about this incident.'
There has been no previous indication the tie could have been
manipulated.
Football's European governing body UEFA has set up a new unit to
investigate the possibility of match-fixing by betting syndicates.
Twenty-five UEFA Cup matches, all from preliminary rounds, have
come under review as a result of irregular betting patterns. Last
season's semi-final involving Zenit and Bayern had not been one of
those under investigation, El Pais reported.
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