A few days before the meeting between Zimbru and Spartanii-Sportul, information about its possible paid nature started circulating in social networks. The rumors were fueled by the fact that in the previous three meetings Spartanii-Sportul, which had not won a single victory in 15 rounds, unexpectedly defeated Dacia-Buiucani (1:0) and CSF Bălți (2:0). The club with a controversial reputation earned more points in the three rounds before the match with the Bisons than in the previous 15 rounds – 6:4.
Suspicions about this match were heightened when looking at the bookmakers’ quotes, especially in live mode (the possibility to bet during the match – author’s note) – after Zimbru opened the scoring at the end of the first half. Before the match, the bookmakers offered odds of 1.01 for the victory of Zimbru, while for the victory of Spartanii-Sportul some bookmakers offered up to 57.0 (570 lei of winnings with a bet of 10 lei – author’s note). The first goal in the match, scored by the clear favorites, had a significant impact on the quotes. On the 45th minute, when the teams were about to go to the break, the Belarusian legionary of “Zimbru” Denis Kozlovski scored a goal. The live odds for Spartanii-Sportul’s victory skyrocketed to 276.0, meaning that their chances of winning dropped 4.8 times. There was a break, and for 15 minutes the clients of bookmaker offices had the opportunity to bet on the basis of what they had seen in the first half.
At the beginning of the second half, the situation in the match changed in favor of Spartanii-Sportul. In the 48th minute Pavel Nazar equalized the score after receiving a pass from Zimbru goalkeeper Sebastian Agaki. This is important to take into account, because, firstly, Agaki had not played for his club since the beginning of August and unexpectedly replaced Ivan Dokic in the frame, and, secondly, he could not fail to see the location of the opponents, especially those players who were positioned in close proximity to the goalkeeper’s area. Such a mistake can be made either by a non-professional or by someone who makes it deliberately.
Five minutes later, Spartanii-Sportul took the lead – Mihai Sava scored. The author of the first goal Nazar from the other half of the pitch made a pass to Sava, who ran into the Zimbru penalty area. The midfielder hit a low shot towards the goal, Agaki deflected the ball, but into the open area. Sawa, escorted by two Yellow-Green defenders with glances, ran to the ball and struck the empty goal. There are also a few points worth noting in this situation. Firstly, it is highly suspicious that the home team’s goalkeeper failed to grab the ball – it was shot softly and along an uncomplicated trajectory. Secondly, both Zimbru defenders, who were supposed to guard the opponent, behaved extremely careless, if not negligent. Sava met no resistance in the penalty area.
Zimbru’s top scorer Kozlovski (11 goals) restored parity in the 57th minute with a penalty, which did not last long. In the 62nd minute, Sava from the center of the field gave a pass to Nazar on the right flank, the latter crossed into the penalty area, and the opponents’ defender made a header to the open Dan Spataru. For the experienced Spartanii-Sportul striker, who has played more than 100 matches in Zimbru, it was not difficult for him to head the ball into Agaki’s goal.
The score 2:3 in favor of the visitors remained until the final whistle, even though Zimbru remained in the minority after the 77th minute suspension of Brazilian international Italo Dias. The chronology of the match is very important to understand the big picture. It is extremely difficult to believe that a chain of coincidences led to this result…..
The many questions that observers had while watching reinforce doubts about the purity of this match. Especially considering the fact that the club Zimbru, even after losing, was in any case a winner – the result of this match will not affect its performance in the second phase, and if Spartanii-Sportul manages to overtake Dacia-Buiucani in the remaining three rounds and enter the cherished six, the Bisons will get an additional 0.5 points. In the three matches of the first phase, Zimbru earned six points against Spartanii-Sportul (two wins and one loss) and five points against Dacia-Buiucani (two wins and one draw). This season, all the points earned by the first teams in the first phase are counted towards the second part, but they are divided by two.
The topic of match-fixing is quite sensitive for the Moldovan soccer community. Many functionaries, coaches and players are wary of commenting on the topic, being dependent on the FMF. When asked by Logos Press to comment on the reports of possible match-fixing in the Super League, only the former technical director of “Spartanii-Sportul” Viorel Cojocaru responded, stating that he “found all matches of the 18th round suspicious and the federation must take action, otherwise we cannot deceive everyone”. He did not answer the question whether there will still be attempts to compromise the matches before the end of the first phase. The FMF, for its part, preferred not to comment on the reports.
The remaining matches of round 18 could, by inertia, be among the suspicious ones. Fans’ attention is directed to the three remaining Spartanii-Sportul matches: On November 9 they host Politehnica-UTM, on November 23 they will play in Orhei against local Milsami, and in the final round on November 30 they will host Petrocub.
Before the start of the season, FMF approved the regulations of the championship, the annex to which specifies how in the second (spring) phase will be taken into account the points earned by clubs in the first (fall) part. In particular, it states that only the points earned by clubs from the top six in head-to-head meetings will be taken into account. Consequently, matches against the two clubs eliminated in the first phase have no tournament value.
Three rounds before the end of the first phase, the two outsiders are Spartanii-Sportul and Politehnica-UTM. Taking into account the events in the previous rounds, Dacia-Buiucani are also dangerously close to the relegation zone, having five points more than Spartanii-Sportul (see the standings). The matches against these clubs in the final rounds attract the most attention, as the teams that have secured participation in the second phase are not affected by the results of these meetings.
An interesting feature of the points format in the current Super League season opens up opportunities for clubs to maneuver in the final rounds of the first phase. “If the matches have no tournament significance, they can bring financial dividends,” may be the opinion of the managers of clubs that have secured their place in the top division. “Why not?” – echo them outsiders. In fact, both sides benefit from this situation. “The wolves are fed and the sheep are safe” – a well-known saying turns out to be very relevant in soccer.
It is not known the intention of the FMF, which allowed such a loophole in the regulations. Functionaries of the federation prefer not to spread about the subtleties of their own decisions, and at the mercy of the fans are left only speculation. We can only hope that the FMF will analyze the current season after its completion and, perhaps, change the notorious paragraph of the regulations so that the second phase will take into account the results of all matches of the first part, regardless of the position of clubs in the standings.
In this situation, the injured party is obvious – the reputation of Moldovan soccer, repeatedly undermined by reports of match-fixing. In 2020, this came to the attention of the NCBC and Europol, which reported the detection of a criminal gang in the top division. It was reported that half of the clubs in the National Division at the time were involved in the corruption scheme. Approximately 20 matches in the 2020/21 season drew the attention of the investigation. Criminal cases were opened against 11 people. The scheme involved club leaders, managers, coaches, players and other intermediaries who influenced the outcome of the games and made bets in Asian bookmakers. It was revealed that the accused made bets from €10,000 to €20,000 per match, and their total profit was estimated at €600,000. It was reported about the arrest of four suspects and several dozen searches, including in the office of an unnamed soccer club.
In different years, former Dacia and Zimbru owner Adlan Shishkhanov, coach Vasile Mungiu and sports journalist Sergei Besedin have come to the attention of law enforcement agencies for organizing match-fixing. Mungiu was sentenced to two years’ suspended imprisonment with a probation period of two and a half years. UEFA later imposed a lifetime ban on the coach for sports activities. Besedin was sentenced to three years’ suspended imprisonment with a probation period of two years.
The FMF has repeatedly suspended players from soccer activities, and not only from men’s clubs, but also from women’s clubs. One of the most high-profile was the 15-year suspension from soccer activities of Petru Ojog, former president of Sfântul Gheorghe (Suruchenm village, Ialoveni district). The club became vice-champion of Moldova in 2019 and Cup winner in 2021, and reached the final of the second most important tournament three times – in 2019, 2020 and 2022. In 2023, it was announced that the team was disbanded.
|
Super League 2024/25 standings |
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|
Place |
Club | И | В | Н | П | М |
О |
|
1* |
“Petrocub” |
18 |
11 | 6 | 1 | 29-11 |
39 |
|
2 |
“Sheriff” |
18 |
12 | 2 | 4 | 37-12 |
38 |
|
3 |
“Zimbru” |
18 |
10 | 5 | 3 | 44-18 |
35 |
|
4 |
“Milsami” |
18 |
10 | 3 | 5 | 39-23 |
33 |
|
5 |
CSF Bălți |
18 |
7 | 5 | 6 | 23-22 |
26 |
|
6 |
“Dacia-Buiucani” |
18 |
4 | 3 | 11 | 23-30 |
15 |
|
7** |
“Spartanii-Sportul” |
18 |
3 | 1 | 14 | 12-53 |
10 |
|
8 |
“Politehnica-UTM” |
18 |
2 | 1 | 15 | 17-55 |
7 |
| * The clubs that finished in the top four places in the second phase of the Super League will play in the following European Cup season: winners – in the Champions League (from the first round), silver medalists – in the Europa League (from the first round), bronze medalists – in the Conference League (from the second round), fourth-placed clubs – in the Conference League (from the first round).
** Clubs finishing in the last two places in the first phase will leave the Super League |
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