Reigning men’s hockey world champions Belgium are under the scanner with three of their players under suspicion for fixing matches, according to reports.
French newspapers La Dernière Heure and La Libre claim that at least three Belgium players are under investigation for illegal betting.
The matches between 2015 and 2018 include big tournaments such as World Championships, Belgian League and the Euro Hockey League. Belgium’s gambling commission has asked the Royal Belgium Hockey Association (KBHB) for match sheets from 2015 up until the recently concluded World cup.
KBHB’s director of marketing and communication Denis Van Damme announced that it is only the gaming commission that is asking for information and not the police.
In a press release on Wednesday, KBHB said, “We are not aware of a judicial inquiry against certain Red Lions. We understand that there was a request for information from the Gambling Control Board.
“We do not know the number, nor the name of the Red Lions involved. We do not know if this request for information concerns online bets on World Cup matches, or if it concerns bets on Belgian games at the World Cup. We have not been contacted by this Commission or by any official body. We have just received a request from this commission, by e-mail, asking us to send them a number of match sheets.”
KBHB insist that all of the members their World Cup-winning side have denied being involved in any kind of online betting.
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