I watched a fixed football match (by mistake)
Arsenal (not that one) fail at match fixing
For the past two weeks, the stupidest people on the internet have been trying to claim that the World Cup was fixed for Argentina. As a result, I’ve decided to tell the story of a game I saw that actually was fixed, that I attended completely by chance.
In July 2023, I was on a trip around the Balkans watching football, taking in the varied culture of the region, accidentally ordering the biggest mozzarella sticks in history, and wondering if I was brave enough to jump off the famous bridge in Mostar, Bosnia (I wasn’t).
The trip was supposed to end in Greece, however the country was suffering from severe wildfires at the time, and not even the best hotel air-con in the world could help if everything was on fire.
As a result, the trip pivoted to end in Podgorica in Montenegro. Of course, I found a football match. I always find a football match. Arsenal Tivat were playing in the first round of qualifying in the Europa Conference League, with their opposition being FC Alashkert of Armenia. If you were wondering, their name has nothing to do with the English Arsenal, instead coming from a nearby naval repair base. With their stadium not meeting the requirements to host a UEFA fixture, they were instead playing about 80km away in Podgorica. Perfect!
Even as someone who loves to attend a niche football match, this was really niche. When I asked the woman working on reception in the hotel if I would be able to get tickets for the match or it would be already sold out, she laughed for about 15 minutes, before telling me there was a strong chance I might be the only person in the stadium.
Anyone who uses the groundhopping app Futbology knows that this wouldn’t be true, as no matter where in the world you go, you’ll always find a middle aged German man who is the 3rd biggest supporter of Energie Cottbus who already checked in to the game at 9am.
Out of interest, I looked up the other Futbology users who were there, and the crowd was made up of supporters of Llantwit Major AFC, Molde FK, St Pauli, Sporting Charleroi, Hamburg x2 and Fortuna Koln.
Podgorica has one stadium which is right in the middle of the old town, a lovely walk and in close proximity to the various bars and restaurants the city has to offer. It also has a stadium in the middle of nowhere, which involves driving for miles through the kind of landscape which resembles something you’d see on a Netflix documentary about where a murder victim was left undiscovered for 19 years. I think you already know which of the two stadiums the game was played at.
After convincing a taxi driver that I was going to a football match rather than covering up a crime, I arrived to a very sparse looking crowd. A quick online search tells me that the attendance was 479, which sounds plausible if you include all the staff, substitutes, and various bugs that happened to fly through the stadium during the game.
Despite the fact that two days ago I had no intention of being at this game and didn’t know either team existed, my expectations were high. Montenegro would be the 53rd country I had seen a game in, and there was everything to play for due to the first leg finishing 1-1. I was expecting to see a close game, likely resulting in a home victory.
I’m still not quite sure what I saw, but it definitely wasn’t that.
Tivat being in the Conference League at all was a bit of a fairytale, as they had qualified in their first ever season in the top flight - having spent most of their history in the lower leagues, and being in the regional leagues as recently as 2018. The tie vs. Alashkert was their first ever game in Europe, and as it would turn out, probably their last.
I didn’t know this at the time, but before kick off there were massive sums of money being placed on the match, with the game attracting a level of attention far beyond what you would expect for such an early round tie between sides from Montenegro and Armenia.
From the evidence released by UEFA, the bets were not being placed on who would win or lose, but instead the number of goals that would be scored in each half. It should also be said that Alashkert appear to have had nothing to do with the scandal, with none of their players or staff punished.
One of the common bets that was being placed was 2 or more goals in the first half, and after 39 minutes it was 0-0. Alashkert then score two of the worst goals you’ve ever seen, with the goalkeeper effectively jumping out of the way of the ball, and defenders slowing down to make sure they don’t catch up with the attacker. If you need any more proof of Alashkert not being involved with the fix, their players look absolutely baffled at how bad the defending is.
Even as someone who knew basically nothing about the standard of football in Montenegro, the goals were so bad that it was impossible to put them down to Arsenal simply being rubbish. In sadly long lost WhatsApp messages, I remember texting my dad that it felt like I was either watching a fixed game, or the home team had all been spiked with LSD before kick off.
The second half was even worse, as these supposedly Conference League level players defended in a way that wouldn’t be acceptable in the 7th tier of Welsh football.
Clearly, the scoreline hadn’t reached the level required going into stoppage time, as two more terrible goals were conceded to make the final score 6-1.
If you don’t watch the full video, make sure you at least watch the fifth goal, it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen
If the first few goals hadn’t been clear enough, by full time it was blatantly clear that Arsenal had lost on purpose. A betting scandal was the obvious answer, although I also wondered if perhaps they had realised they didn’t have the money for an extended European adventure, and made sure they lost ASAP to save on flights, hotels and other logistics that come with European football.
It was no shock when I saw the news two years later that UEFA had concluded the game was fixed, with Arsenal banned from European football for 10 years, and bans for life for one player and one club official. Two other players also received 10 year bans, and a fine of half a million Euros was imposed. The only surprise was that it had taken so long to reach this conclusion - as I had already known the game was fixed by the 75th minute.
Having had low expectations, it turned out to be an absolutely hilarious day out, with entrance and three pints costing less than €10, with the added bonus of not being on fire in Greece.
If you’re wondering how the sides have got on since then, Alashkert lost the next round on penalties, and haven’t yet returned to Europe, while Tivat are now a relegation battler, having finished 7th, 8th, and 7th (out of 10) in the seasons since their feeble attempt at getting away with corruption.
So no, the World Cup isn’t fixed, but I saw a game that was, and it was really funny.
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