The Accused Fixed Match In Russia

By: chris | June 16th, 2009

Another day, another accusation of match fixing in Eastern Europe. No surprise it’s Russia, where the rumblings are around on a seemingly permanent basis.

Terez Grozny took on Krylia Sovetov on the weekend in a match which could send Krylia atop the table with the right results. Far too early in the season for it to mean anything, but still nice enough considering they’d never finished above 3rd in their history. Terez, on the other hand, will likely spend the year hovering in the bottom half of the table, maybe even fight relegation.

But you know how it goes: betting is suspended due to strange patterns – 96% of wagers were on Terek to win, incredibly – and then the upset happens…

…and the Russian federation is quite unhappy:

“I had watched this match and I didn’t like what I saw,” Mutko told reporters. “The RFU’s ethics commission will now take a closer look at it but in any case, the special forces (police) have to deal with it. We’ll also talk to Samara officials.”

Several online betting companies, including the British firm Betfair, reported irregular betting patterns for Saturday’s match in Grozny before suspending betting altogether. Chechen club Terek beat Samara 3-2 to ease relegation worries.

There’s a bit of history between these two as well:

Russian football has often been plagued by allegations of fixed matches, with Terek’s 2004 Russian Cup final triumph over, ironically, Krilya Sovetov, alleged to have been bought for $6 million. The claims have not been proven, however.

Watching the highlights nothing really jumps out – well, not unless you happen to watch both these sides on a weekly basis. But when you factor in the table position of each club, should Terez – in the green – be walking through Krylia’s central defense that easily? Not once, not twice, but every time. This was a club 1 point from the top being positively torn open by a club then 5 points from the drop zone. And how easily Krylia were allowed back in the game with two quick goals, before offering up chance after chance after chance for a Terek victory.

Or maybe not. Maybe Krylia just had a bad day. Maybe the mere allegations are forcing us to look a bit too hard. Maybe that 96% just a coincidence…

Nevermind – I can’t even buy that when consciously trying.