Story highlights
11 men charged with fixing football matches in Estonia
Charged with manipulating 17 matches, including three in the Europa League
Estonian football clubs Narva Trans and Tallina Kalev named by the prosecutor
Of the men arrested, eight are players for the two clubs
For the second time in less than a week European football is facing up to allegations of match fixing.
Estonian authorities announced on Monday 11 men have been charged with fixing 17 matches, including three matches in Europe’s second-tier Europa League competition to the tune of 108,000 euros ($146,730).
The Estonian Prosecutor’s Office said two of the country’s clubs, Narva Trans and Tallinna Kalev, purposefully recruited players who were open to manipulating matches.
Of the 11 men charged, eight are players for Narva Trans or Tallinna Kalev, CNN was told by the prosecutor’s office.
The two teams are accused of looking for players from Estonia, Lithuania and Ukraine who were receptive to fixing aspects of matches in exchange for money.
Read: Match fixing is a soccer “disease”
The news comes days after two men in Britain were charged with “conspiracy to defraud bookmakers by influencing the course of football matches and placing bets thereon.”
The three Europa League matches all involved Narva Trans and took place between June 2011 and July 2012.
In addition to those three matches, the men are charged with manipulating 12 Estonian League fixtures, one Estonian Cup game and one match in Lithuania.
All 17 of the matches took place between July 2011 and July 2012.
