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Trial for match-fixing case
Austria - 23 January, 2007
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William Lim, a 45-year old Malaysian born Briton, is on trial in Germany for running a gang that allegedly bribed Austrian players and a coach in failed attempts to fix matches.
According to Reuters, Lim and seven others were charged with leading a betting ring that paid bribes to influence the outcome of matches in Austria's First Division and German lower divisions between mid-2005 and March 2006.
Prosecutors depicted how the gang lost over EUR 700,000 in one match-fixing attempt and EUR125,000 in another.
Four other men are accused of abetting Lim in the scam along with three players at lower division German clubs. All the defendants refused to plead to the charges in court.
State prosecutors in the Frankfurt regional court claim that one of the men travelled to Austria in early 2006 where he met Michael Petrovic, then the coach of Austria's First Division club Sturm Graz, and player Bojan Filipovic.
According to prosecutors, Petrovic and Filipovic agreed to throw a match against Austria Vienna where Sturm Graz would lose the game by at least two goals.
Lim, a trained cook, bet around EUR 600,000 on the match while one of his co-defendants wagered EUR 137,000. They lost their money when the game ended at 0-0 and then refused to pay the promised EUR 60,000 to their contacts at Sturm Graz.
Petrovic and Filipovic, who are not on trial, have strongly denied any misconduct. At the time of the investigation by Austrian police in April last year, the club said it had received sworn statements from the two men stating they had no involvement in any possible exploitation of matches.
Prosecutors said there was another incident, where, before a game between Sturm Graz and Salzburg in March 2006, the accused men agreed to pay Filipovic EUR 5,000 and another Sturm Graz player EUR 2,500 respectively to play defensively.
Lim bet EUR 100,000 and a co-defendant bet EUR 25,000 that no more than three goals would be scored. Sturm Graz won the game 4-0 and the bets were lost.
Prosecutors said the group would usually pay players EUR 5,000 to play badly in certain matches and twice that amount if they caused a penalty to be awarded or got a yellow card.
The trial is expected to last several weeks.
According to Reuters, Lim and seven others were charged with leading a betting ring that paid bribes to influence the outcome of matches in Austria's First Division and German lower divisions between mid-2005 and March 2006.
Prosecutors depicted how the gang lost over EUR 700,000 in one match-fixing attempt and EUR125,000 in another.
Four other men are accused of abetting Lim in the scam along with three players at lower division German clubs. All the defendants refused to plead to the charges in court.
State prosecutors in the Frankfurt regional court claim that one of the men travelled to Austria in early 2006 where he met Michael Petrovic, then the coach of Austria's First Division club Sturm Graz, and player Bojan Filipovic.
According to prosecutors, Petrovic and Filipovic agreed to throw a match against Austria Vienna where Sturm Graz would lose the game by at least two goals.
Lim, a trained cook, bet around EUR 600,000 on the match while one of his co-defendants wagered EUR 137,000. They lost their money when the game ended at 0-0 and then refused to pay the promised EUR 60,000 to their contacts at Sturm Graz.
Petrovic and Filipovic, who are not on trial, have strongly denied any misconduct. At the time of the investigation by Austrian police in April last year, the club said it had received sworn statements from the two men stating they had no involvement in any possible exploitation of matches.
Prosecutors said there was another incident, where, before a game between Sturm Graz and Salzburg in March 2006, the accused men agreed to pay Filipovic EUR 5,000 and another Sturm Graz player EUR 2,500 respectively to play defensively.
Lim bet EUR 100,000 and a co-defendant bet EUR 25,000 that no more than three goals would be scored. Sturm Graz won the game 4-0 and the bets were lost.
Prosecutors said the group would usually pay players EUR 5,000 to play badly in certain matches and twice that amount if they caused a penalty to be awarded or got a yellow card.
The trial is expected to last several weeks.
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