Ukraine police accuse 35 professional football clubs of match-fixing

AP PHOTO

Real Madrid and Liverpool will contest the Champions League final inside the Olympic national stadium in Kiev on Saturday (Sunday NZT).

Ukrainian police have accused most of the country's professional football clubs of match-fixing and launched a series of raids as the country prepares to host the Champions League final.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov says 35 clubs took part in betting scams with total profits running into the millions each year. He adds players and referees were threatened or bribed up to 100,000 hryvnya (NZ$5556) to ensure the correct result.

Ahead of Saturday's (Sunday NZT) match between Real Madrid and Liverpool, Avakov says the raids show that "football must be fair play".

A presentation given by the police accused Vorskla Poltava and Zorya Luhansk, who finished third and fourth in the Ukrainian league, of involvement in match-fixing.

Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk, who have won every league title since 1993, were not accused.