Czech police charge 32 in match-fixing probe on eve of World Cup playoff encounter

ON THE EVE of the crunch Irish game in Prague the Czech police charged 32 peopleover football match-fixing and other crimes, following a raid on several clubs and the Football Association (FACR) headquarters.

The Czech national team will face the Republic of Ireland in the 2026 World Cup qualifying play-offs this evening.

While Ireland is basking in the excitement of a kick about on the pitch in Prague, the country we face is gripped in one of the biggest corruption scandals.

Police have targeted clubs including the top-flight side MFK Karvina, officials, referees, players and agents in the largest match-fixing crackdown in the history of the EU country of 10.9 million people.

The suspects are charged with participation in an organised crime group, fraud, bribery and money laundering, prosecutor Radim Dragoun said in a statement yesterday.

“The prosecution of other people… may start later on based on the outcome of searches and interrogations under way. The number of those charged may not be final,” he added.

The suspects, who are currently being interrogated, face up to 13 years in prison if convicted, Dragoun said.

MFK Karvina are suspected of offering bribes to referees and players to influence a top-flight game in March 2024.

The club rejected the allegations in a statement on its website, blaming “individuals”.

One of the suspects is MFK Karvina co-owner Martin Latka, a former Birmingham City defender, who has also denied any wrongdoing.

Most of the suspects are active in lower-league football.

In 2024, former deputy FACR head Roman Berbr was handed a three-year sentence, suspended for five years, for embezzlement.

Berbr was found guilty of embezzling a regional football association’s money.

He was detained and indicted alongside 21 people and the Prague-based club Slavoj Vysehrad over match-fixing involving lower-tier competitions.

Former Slavoj Vysehrad sports director Roman Rogoz was sentenced to four years in prison.

Berbr’s wife Dagmar Damkova, the first female referee in the Czech Republic, stepped down from a post on the UEFA referees committee as a result.

Former FACR head Miroslav Pelta was detained in 2017 and then sentenced to six years in prison for manipulating sports subsidies.

- With reporting from Niall O’Connor

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