Euro 2008 draw held amid probe

The draw will be made for the Euro 2008 finals with the spectre of a match-fixing inquiry hanging over football.

UEFA, the sport's European governing body, have asked police to examine 15 matches played this season after an early-warning system detected suspicious betting patterns. UEFA would not name the countries or clubs involved for fear of jeopardising the Europol investigation, but said none of the Euro 2008 qualifying matches are under suspicion.

"There are no investigations under way into any of the qualifying matches for Euro 2008," the body said in a statement. "As a responsible governing body, UEFA is continuously monitoring football betting patterns and will take disciplinary action in any cases where that may be justified."

A German magazine reported that UEFA were looking into up to 26 matches dating back to July 2005, and said the majority involved teams from eastern and south-eastern Europe.

No British team has so far been linked with the inquiry.

According to Der Spiegel, the matches under scrutiny include three fixtures from a preliminary round in the Champions League, two in the UEFA Cup and a Euro 2008 qualifier.

But, as officials and coaches from 16 nations gathered in Lucerne for the draw for the tournament in Austria and Switzerland, UEFA insisted none of the Euro 2008 qualifying matches is under suspicion.

UEFA introduced an early-warning system a year ago to monitor irregular betting patterns, and cooperate with police forces across Europe to stamp out attempts to rig matches.

The system alerted UEFA to unusual betting patterns in the early rounds of some European club competitions.

"In one case, a second-round UEFA Intertoto Cup match, the disciplinary inspector considered the circumstances serious enough to bring the case before the UEFA control and disciplinary body," said the statement. "At its meeting on Thursday, November 29, it requested further investigations be carried out before taking a final decision."