League chief Javier Tebas has admitted that there is “proof” that “some players” in Spanish football bet on La Liga matches.
Players in the Spanish League system are allowed to bet on matches in the country’s other tiers, as long as they do not bet on games in their corresponding division, and Tebas acknowledged the “very high risk” of match-fixing due to the large volume of fixtures played.
“Of course, in 380 La Liga games played each season, there’s always a very high risk [of match-fixing],” the President told El Mundo.
“I have proof that some players bet [throughout Spanish League football]
“Players can’t bet on competitions in which they participate. That’s obvious and a serious offence, which is punishable – not only in the League, but in the [country’s] Gambling Act.
“There are three or four alerts [in the Spanish League system] for match-fixing [per season], but that isn’t high and they don’t mean that the games are necessarily fixed.
“This phenomenon can never be controlled, but [our system] has greatly reduced the margin of risk.
“We know that gambling is always very rife at the end of the season, and so is the talk of the subject of briefcases and other things, but I think we’ve greatly reduced this issue.
“Our goal is to reduce the risk as much as possible and try to catch those who want to harm our game.”