Ex-ISL star Borja detained for match fixing in Spain

Borja Fernandez

The Spanish National police have confirmed the arrest of several footballers who either play or have played in the Liga Santander or the Liga 123 (Spanish first and second divisions) during an anti match fixing operation.

The players arrested are former Real Madrid duo Raul Bravo and Carlos Aranda, Real Valladolid's Borja Fernandez, who played for ATK in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 editions of the ISL, and Getafe's Samuel Saiz Alonso and Deportivo la Coruna's Inigo Lopez Montana.

Borja and Alonso also started their careers in Real Madrid's youth squad. Inigo Lopez had previously played for Huesca and the president of that club, Agustin Lasoasa and the chief of Huesca's medical services, Juan Carlos Galindo, are also reported to have been detained.

It is thought the players were involved in match fixing in order to make money through online betting and they face charges of belonging to a criminal organisation, corruption and money laundering. A source close to the probe said that matches were allegedly fixed during the 2017-2018 campaign.

The police said that their months-long investigation had "confirmed that the suspects reached agreements with various players to 'fix' at least three matches in the first, second and third division." "The match fixing related to the third division was unsuccessful, forcing the players involved to compensate the loss by doing another in the future," they added.

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