Extensive match manipulation is suspected in Finnish football. Three sub-league clubs were disciplined by Pallloiitto.
Helsingin Sanomat reported at the end of August in the published story about the extensive cheating scandal in Finnish football. Suspicions of manipulation extend to several Finnish lower league clubs.
According to HS’s information, in recent years, in the lower leagues, there has been widespread activity against sportsmanship and the rules, even criminal activities. It’s about influencing the events of matches, i.e. match manipulation. This has been aimed at financial gain in foreign betting markets.
According to the newspaper, the strongest doubts are related to Ilves-Kissai and FC Futura, who play in Kakkose, and Finnkurd, who play in Kolmose. According to HS, several Brazilian players and the person who brought them to Finland were connected to Vyyhti.
Helsingin Sanomat previously reported that Palloliitto, Veikkaus and Suek, the Finnish sports ethics center, have been aware of the suspicions for years.
You can’t bet on the matches of Finland’s fifth league level, or Kolmonen, from Veikkaus’ lists, but you can bet through foreign gaming companies. Finnish leagues are especially interesting from the point of view of betting agencies in the summer, because the big leagues in Europe are on break.
The Football Association announced the discipline: “The situation is exceptional”
Now on Thursday, the Finnish Football Association announced that the match manipulation suspicions of the men’s Kakkonen and Kolmonen will proceed to the disciplinary process of the Finnish Football Federation.
Palloliitto says that since June 2023, Suek has received a total of more than 40 reports or hints about suspicious betting or competition manipulation in football from different parties. All announcements are related to the matches of the Second and Third.
The disciplinary suspicions of the Finnish Football Association are directed at three clubs, Ilves-Kissai and FC Futura, who play in Kakkose, and FC Finnkurd, who play in Kolmose.
The report compiled by Suek, which will be submitted to the disciplinary committee, is almost 400 pages long and includes video footage of the suspicious match events.
General Secretary of the Football Association Marco Casagrande says that the disciplinary process to be launched now is rare.
– It is extremely important to be able to react to these doubts very carefully and with the required seriousness, the situation is exceptional. The material also goes to the authorities via Suek, but the progress of the matter is slow and uncertain for the time being.
Palloliitto says that in suspected cases, the information provided by the sports technology company Sportradar serves as evidence, but information has also been received from other parties that monitor betting.
Sportradar’s similar reports have served as evidence in, for example, UEFA’s disciplinary proceedings. According to the Swedish Football Association, the reports have been found to be reliable and their probative value has been strong. Compiling the technical material and screen has been a long process and required a lot of resources.
– We are very grateful to UEFA for their support throughout the process. In addition to know-how, Uefa opened an Anti-match-fixing funding call in the spring, from which we applied and received significant financial support. It has made it possible to investigate and acquire material of this scale. In addition, the cooperation and sharing of know-how between Suek, the international betting companies and us has been significant throughout the process, Casagrande opens.
The goal of the disciplinary procedure is to find out whether all or any of the clubs mentioned above have committed a violation of the ethical principles of the competition regulations and whether a sanction according to the penalty regulations can be imposed.
There are no known precedents for similar cases. Due to the scope of the material, it is difficult to predict the duration of the disciplinary process.