At the start of the 2010-11 soccer season, the Croatian domestic soccer league, better known as Prva HNL, has been rocked by stunning allegations that defending league and cup champions, Dinamo Zagreb, were involved in a match-fixing conspiracy in last year's first leg of the Croatia Cup, where Dinamo won 3-0 against their arch rivals Hajduk Split.
According to Croatian sports daily Sportske Novosti, German authorities have uncovered documents "suggesting" that Dinamo Zagreb officials were involved in nefarious match fixing activities. The main official implicated is none other than Zoran Mamić, the Sports Operations Director of Dinamo, who also happens to be the brother of Zdravko Mamić, the club's current executive Vice-President, and possibly, the most influential man in Croatian soccer.
The report alleges that Mamić and Ante Sapina, a notorious gambler and felon who was convicted of masterminding the match-fixing scandal in the Bundesliga in 2005 with the help of disgraced referee Robert Hoyzerc, conspired with Croatian referee Bruno Marić to give Dinamo a 3-0 victory in the first tie of the 2009 Croatia Cup Finals. The alleged conspiracy is to have brought in 1.4 million euros to the organizers, according to Croatian daily Jutrani List. Nevertheless, in a profanity-laced tirade, Zdravko Mamić denied that his club and his brother were involved in any sort of illegal activity, claimed that all match-fixing allegations about Zoran and Dinamo were utterly false, and insisted that a conspiracy existed to tear down Dinamo.
However, more allegations have now surfaced from German authorities that Dinamo Zagreb were involved in three other rigged matches, this time of the European variety, involving England's Arsenal, Romania's Timisoara, and Belgium's Anderlecht. In two of these games Dinamo lost to Arsenal 3-0 and to Anderlecht 2-0, while winning the third 3-0, against Timisoara. All of this controversy is taking place in the backdrop of one of the biggest soccer match-fixing investigations in European history, dubbed "Operation Offside." The investigation, led by German law enforcement into soccer match-fixing, involves 270 matches across nine countries and over 250 individuals, reported the Associated Press.
Investigative journalist and author Declan Hill, who wrote the landmark book, The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime, commented that match-fixing is much more widespread than the typical fan would imagine. Hill emphatically declares:
What the Germans have uncovered is . . . the Asian gambling market, which is absolutely gigantic, is coming into Europe and North America, he told CTV News Channel. Because of the size of the gambling market there (in Asia), it's corrupted much of the Asian sports leagues, and now it's starting to corrupt these leagues around the world. It's a huge, huge problem and they are only beginning to tackle it now.
According to the Associated Press, the investigation now involves 53 matches in Germany; 19 in Belgium; 35 in Switzerland; 15 in Croatia; 7 in Slovenia; 74 in Turkey; 14 in Hungary; 8 in Bosnia; 12 in Austria; and 33 games in international competitions.
The consequences of this investigation are clearly being felt in Croatia where 22 individuals, to date, have been arrested. These individuals primarily, are suspected of rigging the games of the domestic Croatian soccer league. The aftermath of these claims has forced the resignation of John Brleković , Vice-President of the Croatian Soccer Federation and President of its Commission on Combating Corruption in soccer. One can only speculate how much longer Vlatko Marković can survive as President of the Croatian Soccer Federation while, under his watch, this scandal escalates with each passing day.
If the Associated Press is to be believed, 15 matches in the Croatian domestic soccer league were fixed, one of which being last year's Dinamo vs. Hajduk Croatia Cup Finals opening match. Nevertheless, many questions still remain. Which of the 14 other games were fixed? Which teams were involved? Who was involved? How far back does this activity go? How did this scandal impact past championships? Perhaps most importantly, what will be the consequences of all of this? If Dinamo Zagreb is found guilty, will they lose those illegally won championships? Will this scandal destroy Dinamo Zagreb? Will the club vanish into obscurity if they are punished with a demotion to the 2nd Division? What happens if Croatia's second largest club, Hajduk Split, is later implicated? Will the Prva HNL survive this scandal? All of these questions will be answered in due time, but the ramifications of this scandal will undoubtedly be felt all across the Croatian soccer landscape for the foreseeable future.
