Marca on Wednesday published a cryptic report claiming that game-fixing in Spain’s La Liga and its second division is rife. In “the first part” of its report, the Spanishpaper reveals the following recorded statements from players, managers and club officials.
“I went to play against Levante and the coach, in the pre-match team talk, told us: ‘We’re goingto play, to jump, to compete and to score. If we score a goal, they will equalize, and if they score a goal against us, we will equalize. If, in the 85th minute, the scores are level, we give up andthat’s it.’ We both needed a draw. We finished 0-0. In the talk, he told us not to fake it the whole way through the match. It was laughable,” an unnamed first division player said.
“I’veeven doubted about whether or not to put a player in the lineup, thinking he had been bought. You don’t trust half the squad. But if you take them out and put young players in, they end up accusingyou of not wanting to win,” said an unnamed coach.
“This season in Rayo, there was contact with a player before the game against Mallorca, but the player immediately spoke up and his coachclosed down the situation. What happened is that Rayo covered it up. I wouldn’t cover it up,” said the president of a top club.