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Sport

Danish football rocked by match-fixing scandal

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August 25th, 2014


This article is more than 10 years old.

Six charged, including former goalkeeper

Six people have been charged with their involvement in match-fixing two second-tier matches four years ago involving Hvidovre IF football club and their games against Vejle Boldklub and FC Hjørring

According to Copenhagen Police, the six people made about 900,000 kroner, while a Filipino organisation gambled between two and three million kroner on one of the matches. Hvidovre’s former goalkeeper, Lasse Krogh, is among the six involved.

“I can confirm that he has been charged and denies guilt in the matter,” Casper Andreasen, Krogh’s lawyer, told Berlingske newspaper.

“The charge has been a long time coming [about six months]. I’m not sure anything will come of this because I believe the case looks pretty weak.”

READ MORE: Laudrup stirs up controversy with match-fixing claim

Betting against Hvidovre
The police were made aware of the situation after one of the six charged, a 27-year-old referred to as MT, confessed. Four of the others charged have pleaded not guilty, while the fifth did not want to reveal his position.

The first game in question was Hvidovre’s match against FC Hjørring on 24 October 2010 – a match in which the six had agreed Hvidovre would concede at least four goals. It finished 2-4 and the six earned about 300,000 kroner.

The second match was Hvidovre’s 0-5 thrashing at the hands of Vejle on 14 November 2010 – a game in which the six agreed Hvidovre would lose by at least two goals. That result netted the six about 600,000 kroner.

READ MORE: Gambling investigation violated data secrecy rules

Innocence lost
Jens Sejer Andersen, the founder and head of the international corruption in sport organisation Play the Game, lamented the match-fixing news.

“If it is true, then we are talking about a long-awaited loss of innocence for Danish football,” Andersen said.

“Most people who work within sport have been aware that match-fixing would eventually come to Denmark.”

The case is scheduled to be heard in court on December 19.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”