site.btaProsecution Service Launches Investigation into Match-fixing by Football Players

The prosecution service has taken up a case of match-fixing by players in the Bulgarian league and has launched its own investigation, said Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) Deputy Executive Director Dobrin Gionov after a meeting of the Executive Committee on Wednesday.

The press conference scheduled for Wednesday - jointly with the National Revenue Agency (NRA) and the General Directorate National Police (GDNP) - on illegal betting on sports competitions by Bulgarian footballers was postponed this morning precisely because of the emergence of a new case.

Gionov specified that this is a new investigation, as not only have footballers been betting illegally on matches, but some of them have been doing so on their own teams' games. The information from the NRA and GDNP reached the prosecution service, which took up the case on its own initiative. This means that some players may face two penalties - a fine of BGN 10,000 for betting on matches and an additional penalty after the prosecution service's investigation.

BFU President Georgi Ivanov said that until recently, the sanction from the football headquarters was a fine of BGN 5,000 and a six-month suspension. It has been replaced with a fine of BGN 10,000.