<
>

Former Osasuna chiefs, Betis players jailed for match-fixing

Former Osasuna executive Angel Vizcay was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison for match-fixing on Friday.

Vizcay was found guilty of sporting fraud, misappropriation and falsifying documents and accounts in what is Spain's first ruling of sentencing in a match-fixing case.

- Stream new episodes of ESPN FC Monday-Friday on ESPN+
- Stream every episode of 30 for 30: Soccer Stories on ESPN+
- ESPN's Insider Notebook: Arsenal in the UCL? Forget it

He was one of nine people found guilty of conspiring to fix the result of La Liga games in order to help Osasuna avoid the drop in the 2013-14 campaign.

Former Real Betis player Jordi Figueras and ex-Osasuna foundation director Diego Maquirriain were cleared of wrongdoing by a court in Pamplona.

Ex-Osasuna president Miguel Archanco was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison while former Osasuna vice-president Juan Antonio Pascual received a sentence of six years and six months.

Former Betis players Antonio Amaya and Xabier Torres have each been handed a one-year prison sentence and two years of disqualification from football. The two were also handed fines of €900,000.

The sentences can be appealed in Spain's supreme court.

The basis of the "Osasuna case" trial is on the €650,000 that Betis received from Osasuna in the 2013-14 campaign, the €400,000 to beat Valladolid in the 37th round and the €250,000 to lose against Osasuna in the final round of games.

Vizcay testified during the two-month trial that Osasuna paid thousands to La Liga clubs between 2012 and 2014 to help the club avoid relegation.

Osasuna finished 16th in the 2012-13 campaign but despite winning 2-1 against Betis in the last round of the 2013-14 campaign, they did not avoid relegation, finishing 18th in the table.

Those found guilty will have to compensate Osasuna €2.34m, which is the amount of funds that came out from the club accounts irregularly during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 campaign.

Osasuna gained promotion to La Liga in May 2019 and are 13th in the table after 20 games played.