A player from the Eredivisie is suspected of deliberately provoking a yellow card this season, the police confirm after questions from the NOS. The relevant player, whose identity is known to the broadcaster, would have intended that he or others could make money on the gambling market. The player himself says he knows nothing about it. The KNVB is aware of the current case.
By betting on the yellow card, one gambler with a stake of 3,000 euros has earned around 13,000 euros. Two other gamblers won around 1000 euros thanks to the yellow card. Because the criminal investigation is still at an early stage, and it has not yet been decided to prosecute, the NOS has decided not to publish the name of the player, the broadcaster communicates.
Several international parties from the gambling industry reported after a match in the Eredivisie that there were suspicious gambling patterns. The police then started an investigation. According to the police, it is a unique case. It is the first Dutch investigation into an incident of suspected ‘spot fixing’, a form of match fixing in which an act is deliberately performed in a match to earn money. There have been such studies abroad. If the Public Prosecution Service decides to prosecute, it will also be the first time that a match-fixing case has been brought to court in the Netherlands.
The yellow card in question is given by the NOS called a ‘standout’. “A player who has not yet received a yellow card all season, floors an opponent far outside his own penalty area without any immediate danger. It is a foul that is usually given yellow for”, the broadcaster described. The footballer himself says that he indeed committed a ‘clumsy and unnecessary’ offense. “But I have sometimes made crazier fouls,” said the player, who says he does not know why several gamblers have bet large amounts on his yellow card.
“The most notable gambling behavior comes from a fanatic football supporter who lives not far from the player. He shares several mutual friends with the player on social media,” the footballer writes. NOS based on own research. “Before the match, he bet at a foreign bookmaker five times in quick succession that the footballer would receive a yellow card in that match. In total he bet about 3000 euros and with that he won about 13,000 euros.” That gambler does not find his own gambling behavior striking: he would place larger bets more often on impulse. “Usually I lose, and then you are not at my door.”