UEFA: No betting irregularities in Champions League

Following Lyon’s dramatic 7-1 win over Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb which saw the French club qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League – UEFA played down talks of possible betting irregularities.

Speaking at a news conference in Venice, UEFA chief Michel Platini said nothing untoward had been detected.

“If we had doubts, this must have been a very complex organisation, involving the players of Lyon, the players of Zagreb, the players of Ajax, the players of Real Madrid, all the referees and so on. So we need to be very careful about what we say, that’s why I have no doubts on the integrity of the competition. Furthermore, the early warning system that we have put in place throughout Europe has not expressed any warning of illegal betting on this game, so any doubts have been cleared, he said.”

Platini was referring to the Betting Fraud Detections System which monitors 29,000 games each season, including all UEFA matches; it also utilises data from more than 400 betting companies.

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