The Belgian prosecutor’s office charged 57 people this Friday in the framework of the investigation into alleged match-fixing, fraud and money laundering that shook Belgian football more than three years ago and that affects a dozen clubs, according to local media reports.
The case dates back to October 2018, when a total of 44 searches were carried out throughout the country and, at the request of an investigating judge, another 13 in France, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia coordinated by Eurojust, the judicial cooperation body of the European Union (EU).
investigations started at the end of 2017 following a report by the Federal Police’s Sports Fraud Unit that pointed to suspicious transactions in the top division of Belgian football.
These transactions had been carried out by player agents, as reported then by the prosecution, that they would have hidden commissions in the transfer of players and in the salary of players, coaches and other payments.
Three years after those records, the investigation into the scandal known as ‘Footbelgate’ has ended thanks to the “confessions” of the former player agents Dejan Veljkovic and the prosecution has charged 57 people, compared to the 73 who were involved, reports the newspaper Le Soir.
Among them are, for example, Mogi Bayat, former manager of Sporting Charleroi, as well as Herman van Holsbeeck and Philippe Collin, former directors of Anderlecht, one of the most important clubs in the country.
They are also among the defendants. Bruno Venanzi, president of Standard de Liège, Olivier Renard, former player and sports director of this same team or François de Keersmaecker, former president of the Belgian football association, Unión Belge.
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