Top Spanish clubs fixed games: reports

The spectre of match-fixing loomed over Spanish top-flight football but the football league and two of the clubs allegedly involved swiftly moved to distance themselves from the speculation

The spectre of match-fixing loomed over Spanish top-flight football on Monday but the football league LFP and two of the clubs allegedly involved swiftly moved to distance themselves from the speculation.

The LFP denied a report on radio station Cadena Ser that it had informed anti-corruption investigators of possible cases of match-fixing in recent La Liga and second-tier games.

The broadcaster also alleged European footballs governing body UEFA was investigating suspect betting patterns. It did not identify the source of its information or provide details of which matches were involved.

A separate report on Cadena Cope radio,which cited an anonymous source in the LFP,raised doubts about Sporting Gijons 3-0 win at Espanyol at the weekend,which prompted a furious response from both clubs.

Gijon president Manuel Vega-Arango called a news conference at which he said the Asturians,who are second from bottom with three games left and fighting to avoid the drop to the second division,would be taking Cope to court over their allegations.

These things disgust me and I am extremely angry, Vega-Arango said.

We are a modest club in economic terms but8230;with a sensational fan base who does not deserve these things which is why we are not going to let it go. Espanyol CEO Joan Collet,whose side is chasing a lucrative place in Europe next season,said the Barcelona-based club would be doing everything necessary to defend its honour.

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Espanyols head of legal affairs Rafael Entrena said the club would take 24 hours to mull over its next move. This is a very grave issue and the club will act accordingly, he added.

Task force

Several countries have had to deal with allegations of match-fixing in football in recent weeks,including Turkey,China and Italy,where the government has set up a match-fixing task force in response to a number of high-profile cases. Nan Yong,the former head of Chinese football,was this month charged with taking 1.48 million yuan 234,500 in bribes,state media said,the latest episode in the nations drive to clean up widespread corruption in the sport.

The LFP published a statement on Monday in reaction to the Cadena Ser and Cadena Cope reports. As already expressed on multiple occasions the LFP is dedicated and strongly committed to the fight against competition fraud and will use all the means at its disposal to avoid it, the league added.