Swedish police accuse Premier League players of match-fixing—even at the Nations League level

The dust had barely settled around the case of Lucas Paquetá’s alleged deliberate yellow cards when another match-fixing investigation threatens to shake the English Premier League.

Details: Fredrik Gardare, head of Sweden’s police department for combating organized crime in sports, revealed that substantial evidence has been gathered indicating Premier League players are involved in match-fixing schemes.

According to Gardare, investigators found Telegram messages on a confiscated phone showing players cooperating with a criminal in organizing fixed matches across European leagues, and even in Nations League fixtures. Gardare claims that Premier League footballers were among those implicated.

Swedish police initially did not assign special significance to the case, and the local football federation confirmed it possessed information about the investigation. However, while the case hasn’t advanced in Sweden, it may soon gain traction in England.

As reported by the Daily Mail, the Football Association has requested investigative materials from Sweden to assess the scale of the match-fixing problem and determine if sanctions are necessary.

For context: Paquetá faced accusations of deliberately earning yellow cards on four occasions, but in the end, the Football Association dropped all charges against him.