Match-fixers convicted

THREE men have been convicted of fraud in Europe's biggest match-fixing scandal.

Croatian Ante Sapina, who has a previous conviction for match-fixing, bought the referee in a World Cup qualifier. He was sentenced to five years in jail by a German court.

His co-accused Marijo Cvrtak, was also sentenced to five years. A third man, Dragan Mihelic of Slovenia, was given a suspended sentence of 18 months.

More than 20 games were manipulated, including a Champions League qualifier between Debrecen of Hungary and Fiorentina of Italy and several Europa League matches, as well as domestic games in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Turkey, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Canada.

The 2009 World Cup qualifier between Liechtenstein and Finland was fixed by Sapina, who paid Bosnian referee Novo Panic 35,000 to make sure two goals were scored in the second half of the otherwise meaningless match. It ended in a 1-1 draw with both goals in the second half, one as the result of a clearly-incorrect penalty.

Judge Wolfgang Mittrup said Sapina and his co-defendants "shamefully destroyed the enthusiasm of many fans".