In other alleged bribery news, Zenit St .Petersburg has denied allegations that it paid Bayern Munich to throw last season's UEFA Cup semifinal. Spanish newspapers El Pais and ABC reported that a leading Spanish judge has heard a taped telephone conversation in which Russian criminal Gennadios Petrov claimed to have paid the German team "vast sums of money."
Zenit is considering legal action against the papers, while Europe's soccer governing body, UEFA, says it will be investigating the claims. A statement on Zenit's official site said: "The quality of play shown by FC Zenit in the games against Rangers FC and Bayern Munich is the best proof that the victories were earned by Zenit in honest and non-compromising challenges. Allegations of deals mentioned in the media are offensive to all parties mentioned." Bayern Munich also denied any knowledge of the matter.
"When there are rumors of this type, our members of the disciplinary committee handle them and we are going to look at this closely," said UEFA spokesman William Gaillard. Zenit beat Glasgow Rangers 2-0 in the UEFA Cup Final, and Bayern 5-1 on aggregate in the semifinal.
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