Tommy Cassidy: I saw money being handed over to a referee
- Δημοσιεύθηκε: 18/11/2013
Σαν σήμερα γεννήθηκε ο Tommy Cassidy, πρώην παίκτης αλλά και προπονητής του αποέΡλ. Ο Cassidy σε συνέντευξη του παραδέχτηκε πως είδε παράγοντες του αποελ να κανονίζουν τους διαιτητές και λεφτά να αλλάζουν χέρια.
Τον ευχαριστούμε που μίλησε και είπε την αλήθεια και σας αφήνουμε με απόσπασμα της συνέντευξης του:
Tommy Cassidy returned to Irish soccer in 1994. He left Cyprus ablaze with allegations and accusations, not only against those who run the game but those he worked for at Apoel Nicosia. “I knew what was going on. To them it’s not a bribe, it’s how they see the way football is run. “It was brushed under the carpet. I saw money being handed over to a referee and I challenged it. The guy who did it said, ‘Tommy, this is how it is’. “Now I’m banned from the sideline for Uefa games. I’m quite proud of that, I am.
“It all started the night before we played a cup game against Sofia. We went, myself and the chairman, to this little chateau in the mountain for dinner. There I noticed three little guys with three big blonde birds. I was told the men were our match officials.
“The next day, they arrived at the game with the three girls. Now these guys were 5ft 6in and the girls were 6ft plus with long legs. We drew 2-2 in the first leg and I honestly thought there was something going on. I grabbed the referee afterwards and accused him of taking bribes. They tried to tell me that the three girls were interpreters. They were prostitutes.
“I spoke out and ended up in front of a tribunal. There were two French guys and one German, all about 70 year’s of age. They didn’t want to open that can of worms. “I sat there in a glass surround and they wouldn’t look at me. I spilled the beans and I got done for that. I had no future there. A short while after I came home, I sued World Soccer magazine. “A report said I had left Cyprus over allegations of corruption. I won that case.
About 18 months ago, I got a call from an old friend in Cyprus. The country is mad about soccer, it’s a way of life there and it has many newspapers dedicated only to the game. My friend told me that the whistle had been blown on bribery. The next day the papers published only white pages.”
