A European Cup match would have been bought by CSKA Moscow according to Guy Roux.
Corruption in football and even in sport in general is a real scourge. A few days ago, the boss of Olympique Lyonnais, John Textor, expressed and then maintained serious accusations, explaining that the “manipulation of results is a reality”, especially in Brazil. Today at the head of Botafogo, he accused Palmeiras of having corrupted referees and also denounced players from Sao Paulo FC and Fortaleza, guilty in his eyes of having manipulated results to favor Palmeiras.
If the facts are “recent”, others resurface regularly, which sometimes affect competitions or matches which have marked the history of French football. This is the case of the Auxerre – CSKA Moscow match, in the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup in 2005. At the time, the AJA of Guy Roux, emblematic coach of the Burgundians, lost with the score of 4-0 in the first leg before catching up and saving the honor on the return leg by winning 2-0.
“An anecdote that could land us in prison” (Guy Roux)
In an interview given to Figaro Wednesday April 24, Guy Roux returned with bitterness to this defeat and the elimination, even speaking of a “theft”. “The referee was bought,” he accuses. “In the return match, I’m going to tell you an anecdote that could land us in prison (smile). After the first leg, I was suspicious and asked a guy from our house to go and search the referees’ bags during the match. He comes back to see me, pale, and says: “There are some superb watches with rubies.”
“I had ten minutes to make the right decision. Six months before this match, I had decided to stop with Auxerre, no one knew. If I decide to call the cops and the authorities, they will be reported, I I’m going to get the four German referees fired and I’ll be the guy behind this scandal, but not the person who played 894 Ligue 1 games and brought the AJA to Europe. I didn’t take the right one. solution. I didn’t say anything and I was even more of an idiot by not stealing the watches (laughter).”
Despite the fairly serious accusations, no investigation has been opened since 2005, nor the slightest suspicion expressed about this European meeting. And nothing says that 19 years later, UEFA will take up the matter to open a possible file…