Spain's public prosecutor filed a complaint against 41 "mostly former" footballers, execs and coaching staff of Spanish second division side Real Zaragoza and La Liga side Levante, "saying they were part of" a $1.2M plan to fix a match in '11, according to Alex Duff of BLOOMBERG. Real Zaragoza was also accused of "sports fraud in the complaint," which was filed on Monday in a court in Valencia, where the game was played. A copy of the complaint was "sent by the public prosecutor to members of the media." The 41 identified include ManU midfielder Ander Herrera, Atlético Madrid captain Gabriel Fernandez, who is also known as Gabi, and Japan coach Javier Aguirre. They were under contract to Real Zaragoza at the time. A Barcelona-based official at the Actyvos player agency that represents Herrera said that he "denies wrongdoing." A call and e-mail sent to Atlético seeking comment from Gabi was not "immediately returned." A spokesperson for Levante said that she was "unable to comment" and could not "immediately make anyone else available" (BLOOMBERG, 12/15). REUTERS' Iain Rogers reported former Zaragoza President Agapito
Iglesias and the club itself were "also named as defendants, along with
the rest of the players from both teams." In
its court filing published on Monday, the prosecutor alleged that the
Levante players were paid a total of $1.2M in
cash to "deliberately lose the game" (REUTERS, 12/15).
