This is a case that has shaken the world of handball since the start of the world.
Two weeks ago, a Danish media revealed the existence of a report on 26 meetings, between September 2016 and November 2017, suspected of having been rigged by referees.
8 pairs of referees are targeted.
Among them, Gjorgji Nachevski and Slave Nikolov… the referees of the World Cup final, which opposes the Blues to the Danes this Sunday evening.
The police and the European Handball Federation had not found "substantial reasons" to sanction these referees suspected of match-fixing.
"They are innocent"
“This case is quite old, but I have every confidence that it has been thoroughly investigated by the European federation, the Austrian police and Europol.
They found no reason to sanction these referees.
Therefore, they are innocent.
If there had been evidence of match fixing, it would have taken us less than a second to make a decision, ”reacted the director of referees of the international federation, Per Morten Sødal, interviewed by the Swedish media Sport Bladet.
A case that also resonates with an investigation broadcast by France Télévisions this Sunday evening.
The French media reveals that one of the pairs suspected of having fixed matches between 2016 and 2017, is also implicated for three meetings of the European Women's Championship in 2018.
During the Russia-Montenegro match on December 2, 2018, the refereeing corps allegedly made 14 obvious refereeing errors.
Errors which coincide with an alert from the National Gaming Authority, which had detected large and unusual sums bet by a Serbian bettor on this match, and two other matches in the competition.
In total, he had bet 32,000 euros on the three games.