Spanish media outlets are uncovering what appears to be a match-fixing ring of some magnitude that worked, or is working, out of Cyprus. According to reports, the bubbling scandal involved matches played at the Cyprus Cup, as well as a number of other matches from 2017 and 2018.
The potential match-fixing could, according to published reports, be related to yet another match-fixing ring that was recently busted in Spain. At the center of the allegations is Jorge Larena, a Spanish player who played in Cyprus from 2014 to 2019.
According to reports from El Confidencial, a Spanish tabloid, the Spanish match-fixing ring had only recently expanded to Cyprus. They described the plan saying, “The plot had also started acting abroad. The wiretaps made it possible to discover that the leaders of the group had a contact in Cyprus that provided them with data on rigged parties in that country. That is the part that interests UEFA. The network’s link was Jorge Larena, a former player of Atlético de Madrid (2001-2006) who, in the summer of 2015, signed for one of the great Cypriot teams, AEK Larnaca, the most important club in the city where the car exploded bomb on January 17. Larena remained on the squad of this team until July 2019, when he hung up his cleats.”
Spanish gambling regulators, under the auspices of the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling, are investigating the matter and don’t believe the Cyprus matches were one-offs. They’re investigating allegations that corruption in Cypriot soccer go to the highest levels.
Cypriot soccer authorities and all the named parties have, so far, denied any involvement in match-fixing of any kind.