Canadian match fixed

The news that a Canadian match was allegedly fixed as begun to leak out as UEFA has suspended Bulgarin referee Anton Genov after some irregular betting was discovered stemming from the Canadian Macedonian friendly earlier this year.

The big bets were being placed on the Over of 2.5 goals and for those that remember that game (no less than four penalties) there were some, let's say, strange calls.

Here is today's podcast on the subject (we also speak to Sean Keay of MLSDraft.net on the combine, draft and diamonds in the rough. And we also get into news on U.S. soccer stars Landon Donovan and Stu Holden).



Meanwhile we've reached the CSA for comment.

The response from Peter Montopoli, General Secretary of the CSA is thus:

The Canadian Soccer Association confirms that none of its players or staff were in any way associated with the alleged match fixing incident recently reported in relation to the November 14, 2009 match which featured Macedonia vs. Canada. The Canadian Soccer Association has not been contacted by UEFA or FIFA in respect of this match.

And the response from the Macedonians is here:

It's true that there are investigations about the referee because he has very bad background. But the rumors that the federations or some players were involved are not true. The referee was connected with big bettors in Asia and he fixed the match with no involvement of Macedonia and Canada. The big bets were on Over 2.5 goals.

Check back here and over at Metro News as the story evolves over the weekend.

Cheers

Ben