Seven people were arrested on Wednesday, 25 February, and were charged with gross corruption and fraud related to betting on football matches, police prosecutor Sahd Iqbal told NRK.
NRK knows that several of those arrested are players who play for clubs in the top Norwegian league, Eliteserien. The police have also carried out several searches at various addresses to collect evidence. One person has been placed on remand.
"The case is in an early phase, and many investigative steps remain. The investigation is in full swing and is a high priority", says Iqbal.
The secretary general of the NFF, Karl-Petter Loken, tells NRK that this is an incredibly sad case for everyone involved and all of Norwegian football. He goes on to say that the police must be allowed to do their job and that no one has been convicted.
He emphasises that it is very important that the case is solved.
"There is zero tolerance for betting on matches you yourself are involved in. It is particularly serious when players are allegedly involved in direct manipulation of matches - even if there is no question of manipulating the match result. On a general basis, the manipulation of matches is one of the biggest threats to sport."
Police attorney Sahd Iqbal emphasises that the investigation is not currently focused on suspicion of result fixing (i.e., manipulation of the final result of the match, such as fixing a win/loss/draw). Instead, the charges of gross corruption and fraud are about single incidents or specific events in the matches that can be influenced via betting. This is often called spot-fixing as opposed to classic match-fixing
