Ex-Mexico coach denies involvement in match-fixing in Spain
MADRID (AP) — Former Mexico coach Javier Aguirre has denied taking money that was allegedly used to fix the result of a Spanish league game eight years ago.
Aguirre testified Thursday in the match-fixing trial involving a game between Levante and Zaragoza at the end of the 2010-11 season.
Aguirre, Zaragoza's coach at the time, is one of more than 40 people who could face two years in prison and a six-year ban from soccer if found guilty.
Prosecutors said there is evidence that 965,000 euros (nearly $1 million) was paid to Zaragoza's squad and later transferred to Levante's players to lose the match in the final round of the season.
Zaragoza won 2-1 to avoid relegation. Deportivo La Coruña was demoted as a result.
Former Zaragoza officials said the money was paid to motivate players, not fix the result of the game.
Aguirre and some of the players who have testified denied Zaragoza's version that the money was paid as an incentive.
Aguirre said he received a deposit without his consent and returned the money to the club because it was not part of his contract.
Some of the players said they were asked as a favor to the club to withdraw the money deposited into their accounts and return it in cash, which they said they did. A few players said they kept the deposits because they believed the money was owed to them.
Among the 36 players accused are Ander Herrera, now with Paris Saint-Germain; former Leicester midfielder Vicente Iborra; former Atlético Madrid captain Gabi Fernández; River Plate midfielder Leonardo Ponzio; Serbian defender Ivan Obradovic; Lazio forward Felipe Caicedo; Itailan defender Maurizio Lanzaro; and Uruguay striker Cristhian Stuani.
Herrera, Ponzio and Fernández were among the players who testified on Thursday.
Former Levante player Xavi Torres was asked why he went more than two months without making any cash withdrawals following the match against Zaragoza. The midfielder said he didn't need to make any withdrawals because he was on vacation, travelling to different countries and at his parents' home.
Torres, who played the whole match against Zaragoza, denied the result was fixed.
"You can see during the match that we created several scoring opportunities and tried to win," he said.
Prosecutors said players on both teams were aware of the alleged match-fixing. They said they found evidence the money was transferred to Levante players after analyzing tax reports and banking transactions at the time.
A lower court had shelved the case but it was reopened last year after an appeal by prosecutors in Valencia, where Levante is based and where the match was played.
Even if found guilty, it's unlikely that those being accused would face actual prison time because sentences of two years or less for first-time offenders are often suspended in Spain.
Zaragoza returned to the second division in 2014. Levante is currently in Spain's top league.
