La Liga side Elche is "at the center" of an investigation into possible fraud and match-fixing, according to Luis Nieto of AS. An audit of the club by BDO found it has a deficit of €1.53M ($1.62M) "that is not justified and is being investigated to see if it is related to possible buying of games." Elche's game against Málaga last season was "already under investigation months ago" by the Spanish Football League (LFP), although no accusation was filed. This deficit "is not the only quantity to cause suspicion for BDO" (AS, 3/11). In Madrid, M.H. Marcos reported Elche Secretary General Antonio Rocamora addressed the club's deficit in a Q&A. Below is an excerpt:
Q: How do you justify the deficit of €1.53M?
Antonio Rocamora: The justification exists. The first thing that has to be said is that is not an audit, it is a report that the LFP did last August. Also, there is no deficit or spending of money without justification. The investigation opened by the LFP has nothing to do with buying any game. Elche is not being investigated for this reason.
Q: Where did this money go?
Rocamora: It is clearly justified and declared in our audit and our accounts. Not only this, but it is also paid off.
Q: Why was it not justified at the time of the LFP investigation?
Rocamora: Because the notes in August were not final and the accounting was not completed. The reasons were there from the first moment, but the definitive notes were not done. When the LFP studies our audit it will see that there is no doubt (AS, 3/12).
