April 24 – A probe into alleged match-fixing in Tunisia has been launched by both the country’s FA and French police following an alert triggered by French state-owned betting operator Française des Jeux (FDJ).
FDJ is reported to have alerted national police in relation to €32,000 being wagered on Ben Guerdane beating rival ES Metlaoui on April 7 in the Tunisian first division.
The suspiciously large cash bets happened just hours before the match around the French city of Nice. Ben Guerdane went on to win 1-0 courtesy of a penalty on 53 minutes.
The alerts prompted the Tunisia Football Federation (FTF) to suspend a regional league to examine separate allegations of match manipulation. That came after the federation “received information indicating that there is a suspicion of tampering with the results of one of the matches of the Sidi Bouzid regional league.”
It was not the first time that FDJ had raised concerns over matches involving Ben Guerdane, having issued warnings twice last year. Ben Guerdane went on to win both matches which ensured they avoided relegation from the top-flight.
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