Liverpool win not suspect

Soccer Match-fixing investigations Michel Platini yesterday confirmed that Liverpool's 8-0 thrashing of Besiktas in the Champions…

Soccer Match-fixing investigationsMichel Platini yesterday confirmed that Liverpool's 8-0 thrashing of Besiktas in the Champions League was not part of Uefa's investigation into match-fixing allegations.

The Uefa president admitted that online betting is becoming a major threat to the game and revealed he had met with European police and politicians to assist with "protecting the game".

Speaking in Dublin yesterday at the official launch of the FAI's new headquarters at the National Sports Campus, Platini expressed his concern at the vast sums of money bet on European games.

"There is nothing in that (Liverpool v Besiktas) no, nothing. We have some games under investigation, and one is more important than the other. We have some teams but not a huge amount of games. But there is no national association and there are some clubs which come from the Intertoto Cup," said Platini.

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"This is a big danger for football, but we have an early warning system, to protect the game against the amount of money coming from Asia, from betting. I asked the politicians in Europe to help us to protect our game too. But it is very complicated with illegal betting, very complicated to investigate.

"Who is responsible? The president? the club, the referee, the defender, the goalkeeper, the forward? Who can you go to see who is responsible? It is very complicated but we need to get a solution with the politicians or police. It is a huge problem with the sport."

Meanwhile, Uefa are to consider possible exceptions to their ban on standing areas at stadiums holding European matches.

Platini met fans from across the continent on Tuesday and German supporters produced the example of Werder Bremen, who have constructed a standing area in their stadium.