Greece to turn match-fixing report over to judicial authorities

Greek Secretariat General of Sports Panos Bitsaxis said Wednesday that a preliminary report on match-fixing in the country provided by European soccer governing body UEFA will be turned over to judicial authorities here for investigation.

“I have carefully looked at the UEFA report. I have orders from the Culture Ministry which is in charge of sports to send the report in the next few days to the prosecutor of the Supreme Court and to the Financial Crimes Division of the Finance Ministry,” Bitsaxis told a press conference.

He said the UEFA report mentioned possible match-fixing in 13 matches of the second division and two Greek Cup matches, involving 12 clubs.

“The information I currently have is not enough to press charges against any team,” Bitsaxis said.

Bitsaxis refused to reveal the name of the clubs unless charges are made by the judicial authorities.

“In the past there was talk of match-fixing but authorities turned a blind eye,” said Bitsaxis, who was appointed to the post only last week. “We will not let such actions overshadow Greek football.”

A UEFA disciplinary committee has yet to decide whether a 2004 UEFA Cup match between Greek club Panionios Athens and Dinamo Tbilisi, which finished 5-2 and was being investigated after unusually high betting stakes, was fixed.