Czech police have detained 20 people, including deputy Czech Football Association head Roman Berbr, over alleged corruption and match-fixing following a nationwide raid, news reports said. “The police have launched criminal proceedings against 20 people today regarding an organised crime group active in corruption to fix results of football matches,” High State Prosecutor Lenka Bradacova told Reuters, confirming earlier reports by local media. Czech Football Association spokesman Michael Jurman confirmed the raid. “We can confirm that since the morning the police have acted, including a search at the association headquarters,” Jurman said. “We are providing the police with maximum cooperation.” The case centres on alleged match-fixing in the second and third tiers of Czech football, and officials are also investigating a number of referees, Seznam Zpravy news website reported. Berbr (photo) has held his post since 2013 and according to local media has been pulling the strings in Czech football for years. The 66-year-old former referee, who is married to the European Union member’s first-ever female referee, Dagmar Damkova, served as a secret police agent during the communist era. Media have pointed to Berbr in relation to corruption cases and bullying at the FA, but he has never been charged. His former boss Miroslav Pelta led the FA until he was detained in 2017 on charges of bribery and abuse of power. He faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted in a trial currently under way. (Source: Al Jazeera)
The Czech Football Association dismissed its referees committee on Monday, including chairman Jozef Chovanec, three days after police raided the FA’S headquarters and other locations around the country and charged 20 people with corruption. Deputy Czech FA chief Roman Berbr, who was among the 20 people charged with match fixing last Friday, handed in his resignation. He is in police custody. Former secret police agent Berbr, 66, who has been an influential figure in Czech football, delivered his resignation via his attorney shortly before an extraordinary session of the country’s Football Association, the group’s chairman Martin Malik told a news conference. “All of us, who are active in Czech football, we let this happen,” Malik said. “The situation which we are dealing with now is abnormal. It is an attack against the very essence of football. I cannot tell how big the impact will be.”Malik said the association would cooperate closely with the police to create a special unit focusing on preventing match-fixing, similar to other UEFA members. He added that the Czech association has informed UEFA about the situation. (Source: Reuters)