Police in Spain investigating match-fixing "detained the coach of third-division club Eldense" following its 12-0 loss to Barcelona B over the weekend, according to Adriana Garcia of ESPN.com. Police reportedly said that Eldense coach Filippo Vito di Pierro, who is Italian, "was detained on Monday in the small eastern city of Elda and his documents were seized." Authorities detained him after "interrogating some Eldense players following a complaint made by the club's president." Earlier, Eldense's Cheikh Saad accused three of his teammates of match-fixing. Saad said that he saw the president of Eldense's managing board, David Aguilar, go to the dressing room at halftime with the score 8-0 and "argue with the coach." He said, "He [Aguilar] had words with the coach, calling him a scoundrel because it was evident that something was going on. I listened to an audio recording that some people showed me after the game and it revealed that certain players had made bets to lose. In that recording, it stated that there would be eight goals at halftime and then the result in the second half. The police have that recording. We are talking about big amounts [money], they would not have earned that amount in their whole lives playing in this division. Apparently, it has not been the first game this season where that has happened." Eldense said via a statement on Sunday that it terminated its relationship with an Italian investor group that is "allegedly involved in the scandal." The club has reportedly had three presidents, seven coaches and used 52 players in 32 games this season (ESPN.com, 4/4). In Madrid, Jesús Mata reported former Eldense coach Mario Cartagena is "convinced" the game was "indeed thrown." Cartagena, who was at the club when its Italian investors took over, "was in charge for little more than a week" before the new owners chose di Pierro. Cartagena: "It's clear it was rigged." He said, "Nobody spoke to me about rigging any games, but it's true that there wasn't time as I left after the second week. What happened doesn't surprise me at all, as I knew there was something strange going on" (MARCA, 4/4).
