Unfortunately, among these matches are some that are played «for the bookmakers». At least this can be said based on the monitoring by representatives of the Ukrainian Football Association. Based on these data, one can generally speak about more than 30 matches with a high probability of manipulation.

Such matches involve clubs from different countries. They are often organized very quickly, not announced, and held behind closed doors, with the only spectators being agents (who often participate in the manipulation scheme) and betting scouts. The latter are an essential part of the manipulations as they allow placing bets worldwide on matches that have no sporting value.

One can say with a high degree of probability that this year referees could be key to manipulations in many matches.

It is worth noting that while Ukraine is trying to do everything to protect itself from the cancer of football, which are fixed matches, Russian teams are active participants in ghost matches and fixed games.

Significantly, a Ukrainian footballer who was disqualified in Ukraine for fixed matches is now awaiting another disqualification because he currently plays for one of these Russian teams. His FC «Fakel» (Voronezh) is involved in a significant number of suspicious matches. We can conclude that football crooks from Ukraine are moving to Russia.

The UAF continues its fight against manipulations during football matches, also trying to help all interested parties and associations of other countries. The UAF also persistently fights for the blocking of bets (and thus against fixed matches) in games involving youth or lacking specific value. This is exactly what is stated in the Macolin Convention, which Ukraine has ratified,» — commented on the situation Francesco Baranca, head of the Ethics and Fair Play Committee of the UAF.