Swansea City boss Michael Laudrup clarifies comments on paying rivals to win games
SWANSEA City manager Michael Laudrup has moved to clarify comments he made about paying rival sides to win games.
And he has again stressed that people found guilty of match-fixing should be banned for life.
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Michael Laudrup
Asked on Thursday about the issue, he said the term match-fixing needs to be “better defined”.
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He said: “If Swansea play the last game against a team and a third team pays Swansea to win the game, I really don’t see anything bad about that.”
But the Dane said today: “I am well aware that it is against the rules to accept or receive money to influence the outcome of a football match.
“I am in full support of these match-fixing rules and certainly do not advocate any payments of any kind.
“The point I was trying to make was that the term match-fixing needs to be defined because there are different levels.
“If two teams playing each other both needed a draw and the scores are level with 20 minutes to go, then I wouldn’t expect either team to throw men forward looking for the winner.
“That to me is not match-fixing.
“The worst case of match-fixing I heard was in Italy in the early 80s, before I went there, when three or four players were paid to lose a game.
“Can you imagine what the other players felt when they got to know about that after they went out to win.
“People like that should be banned for life, not a few years. They should be out of the game forever.
“The other point I was trying to make regarding defining the word match-fixing, and which was hypothetical and perhaps taken out of context in relation to the whole interview, was that if someone wanted to pay us to win, then fine, because we go out to win every game anyway. That’s what I meant by a bonus.”
Laudrup was asked about the issue because he played for Lazio and Juventus in the 1980s, and Italian football continues to be dogged by match-fixing claims.
As many as 13 Italian clubs — mainly from the second division — are under investigation.
Comments
by Hadoken4543
Friday, September 21 2012, 9:44PM
“Well over 300 comments on the BBC about this.
Really ML, you should not have said what you said, while you might have intended it in good faith, its a grey area full of holes.
you cant give the media an inch on anything remotely controversial or they will take a mile.
Just stick to making swansea a good team, enjoy your time here and stay out of any tricky debates that might cast a shadow over the club.”
by abertawejack
Friday, September 21 2012, 8:12PM
“Sounds to me its starting to get out of all proportion with these sensationalist reporters, who won't let a good story get away from the facts: Anyway it'll be a hard match to win tomorrow but if we do any bet's the Sunday rags will say .....It's a fix ;-)
C'Mon U SSSWWWAAANNNSSS”
by daiswan
Friday, September 21 2012, 6:23PM
“I read Laudrup's original statement and thought it was pretty clear what he meant particularly in the context of European football where he has played and managed with great distinction all his football life. He is obviously a very intelligent, thoughtful and honest person who hasn't come to terms ,yet, with British journalists who rarely have half a brain between them or try to sensationalise comments which are usually straightforward and honest (as in Laudrup's case). It's just so sad that a guy of his integrity has been put in this position. On a more positive note can't wait for tomorrow. Tough game but the Swans (manager and squad) can do it - who are we!!”
by PaulStuart
Friday, September 21 2012, 6:14PM
“Don't know if this clarifies or confuses the issue. Either the EP or ML need to make a CLEARER statement to put this to bed. Too many if's and perhaps. Let's then move on before it gets really silly.”