Israeli Soccer League Hit by Big Match-Fixing Scandal

The Israel Football Association (IFA) has found widespread match-fixing in the third-tier League A North. This scandal involves about 40 players, club officials, and team owners. IFA Chairman Moshe Zuares called it a big blow to the sport leading to demands for police to step in.

Investigation Reveals over Half of League’s Games Fixed for Illegal Betting

Two private firms spent six months looking into this. They found proof that people fixed more than half the league’s games to help illegal betting rings. Zuares said these were not just guesses but proven facts. He stressed the need to bring back trust in Israeli soccer, as reported by The Times of Israel.

The scandal came to light when Fadi Mahamid, a youth team director from Umm al-Fahm confessed to fixing 13 games in the 2023-24 season. His admission included hard evidence and details about others involved in the plot pushing the IFA to act.

IFA prosecutor Gilad Berman stated that the corruption ran deep, with an organized system to decide match results beforehand. Investigators found money transfers between NIS 10,000 ($2,814) and NIS 100,000 ($28,141) per game done through shady betting sites overseas. Message logs, including chats between club owners during matches, backed up these claims. 

Some of the accused people used to play in Israel’s top division, including MS Tira coach Ahmad Saba’a, who once led the Premier League in scoring. The probe revealed that some suspects did not want to take lie detector tests, while others did not pass them, which made people more suspicious about their involvement.

IFA Pushes for Bans and Possible League Cancellation

Following the findings, the IFA has asked its internal disciplinary court to ban all the people linked to the scandal. The association is also thinking about taking big steps, like calling off the current League A North season. However, Zuares said that this kind of decision would need legal approval, since the IFA cannot just do it on its own.

The scandal has caught UEFA’s eye, and they are working with Israeli officials to figure out what it means for soccer as a whole. The IFA wants the police to take charge of looking into this mess hoping to hold people accountable and stop such things from happening again.

This scandal has rocked Israeli soccer to its core since the sport is so big in the country. Berman pointed out that the rot goes beyond just a few bad apples putting the game’s fairness at risk and harming young players. With claims that a big chunk of League A North might be compromised, people are starting to wonder if those in charge are doing enough to keep matches honest.The IFA is still determined to seek justice and rebuild trust in the sport.