The coach of Eldense has been arrested by Spanish police following Saturday’s 12-0 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona B.
Spanish police arrested the Spanish third division side’s coach Fillippo di Pierro on suspicion of corruption as part of an investigation over alleged match-fixing surrounding the game.
Assistant coach Francisco Ruiz and the person responsible of the Italian Investment group that manages the team have also been detained.
Eldense players Guille Smitarello and Michael Wayne Fernandez arrived at Elda police station to testify as witnesses in the case – along with the Italian investment group’s lawyer Jose Miguel Esquembre.
Defender Emmanuel Mendy gave an interview on Monday alleging that assistant coach Ruiz had mentioned the plot to fix the match to him.
Mendy told Cadena Ser: ‘He asked me if I was in and how much I wanted and if I wasn’t in then I wouldn’t play.
‘Fran said this to me because the head coach doesn’t speak very good Spanish.’
Ruiz admitted to those claims while speaking to the same outlet, though the coach said he was working on orders from above and announced his resignation after the game.
‘In principle the orders came from above, from the coach. I didn’t know what to do, I was between a rock and a hard place,’ Ruiz said.
‘I didn’t say a word in the dugout, I made no substitutions and I didn’t send anyone out to warm up. Then I resigned from the club.’
On Sunday unused Eldense substitute Cheikh Saad said he was told players would be paid 30,000 euros each for fixing the game.
‘The coach told me to come on as a substitute and I said I didn’t want to. After the game I came close to punching some of my teammates.
Saad had told Spanish radio station RAC1 via ESPN FC on Monday: ‘There are four players involved in match fixing. I don’t care what happens, but when I can, I will give the names of these players.’
He added: ‘They told a teammate this game was fixed and if he wanted to play he should not score goals.
Source:Dailymailsport
