The boss of one of the biggest clubs in Algeria’s football championship and a players' agent were placed in pre-trial detention on Sunday June 7 for suspicions of arranged matches, the APS official news agency said.
Fahd Halfaia, director general of ES Sétif, and players' agent Nassim Saadaoui were imprisoned after being charged by an investigating magistrate at a court in Algiers. They were heard in an investigation into a match-fixing case that has been shaking the country since mid-May, after the disclosure of a telephone conversation between the two men, the same source said. Mr. Saadaoui has been charged with"Interference with liberty of others, defamation and recording of telephone calls without consent", while the boss of ES Setif is prosecuted for "Match bargaining", said the same source.
The case broke out after a sound recording involving the two men and other bosses of first division clubs was broadcast on social media. The director general of ES Sétif disputes the authenticity of this recording, while Mr. Saadaoui defended himself in court by claiming "Ignore that it was forbidden to record telephone conversations". "My goal was to protect myself and prove my innocence in this match bargain"he pleaded, according to the Algerian agency.
"Atypical Paris"
In May 2019, two men were indicted in France for suspicions of arranged matches involving the same ES Setif team. During a match between DRB Tadjenanet and ES Sétif on May 12, 2018, an operator reported "Many atypical bets placed on an exact score with large bets compared to the usual bets", according to French justice. These "Atypical bets" had also been spotted by the monitoring system of the Online Gaming Regulatory Authority (Arjel). The match ended in a 3-2 victory for DRB Tadjenanet against ES Setif. Of the five goals, three had been scored from the penalty spot.
In 2018, the BBC released an investigation with anonymous witnesses describing corruption as a widespread phenomenon in Algerian football. The Algerian championship was suspended in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the end of May, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) declared itself in favor of a resumption of the championship, which remains dependent on a green light from the government.
