The captain of Spanish league champions Atletico Madrid, Gabi Fernandez, denied on Thursday allegations that a match he played for his former club Real Zaragoza was fixed, judicial sources said.
The 31-year-old midfielder denied in questioning by anti-corruption prosecutors that players accepted money to rig the match between Zaragoza and Levante in 2011.
Fernandez was the hero of Zaragoza's 2-1 victory that day, scoring both goals for his then club to save it from getting relegated from Spain's top league.
At Thursday's hearing, "he denied that the match was fixed," a judicial source told AFP.
Prosecutors questioned Fernandez about a payment of 90,000 euros ($114,000) he received from Real Zaragoza around the time of the match.
He told them the payment was a bonus and he returned it in cash when the club asked for it back a few days later, the judicial sources said.
Real Zaragoza filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2011.
Spanish newspapers said several other Zaragoza players were accused of receiving money from the club and passing it on to their Levante opponents who let them win the match.
Prosecutors have summoned a total of 33 people for hearings on Thursday and Friday for questioning over an alleged scam involving illegal betting. The prosecutors will then decide whether a full investigation should be opened.
Among those summoned are the coaches of the clubs at the time of the suspect match, Luis Garcia of Levante and Javier Aguirre of Zaragoza, plus Zaragoza's former chairman Agapito Iglesias.
Source: AFP
