Sunday, February 10, 2013

Benítez Surprised Liverpool Game Under Scrutiny

Rafael Benítez said he was "surprised" to learn that Liverpool's Champions League group game victory over Debrecen four years ago, a match he oversaw while manager at Anfield, had come under suspicion as part of Europol's investigation into match-fixing.

The Hungarian club has confirmed their goalkeeper, Vukasin Poleksic, had been questioned by Uefa having been approached by fixers before the game at Anfield, which Liverpool won 1-0 with a Dirk Kuyt's goal. No player or official involved with the game has been disciplined for any offence relating to it though Poleksic was banned for two years in 2010 by Uefa for failing to report an approach from match-fixers involving Debrecen's 4-3 defeat to Fiorentina in October 2009, a month after the Anfield tie.

Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol, the European Union's law-enforcement agency, had told a news conference on Monday that a total of 425 match officials, club officials, players, and serious criminals, from more than 15 countries, were suspected of being involved in attempts to fix matches, with 380 games under suspicion.

"I'm surprised, though it was nothing to do with [Liverpool]," Benítez said. "We went out to win the game, and we did. I didn't remember [anything suspicious]. It was a game we had to win, and we approached it to do just that. The fact it was 1-0 means it was quite difficult. I think that it's fantastic that the investigation is taking place, analyzing those 300-odd games. If they find something then OK. If not, even better. But it's important to clarify things. I'm very happy with that."

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