UEFA starts probe into Panionios-Tbilisi tie

A UEFA inspector has started interviewing Panionios players as part of an investigation into match-fixing allegations relating to last December's UEFA Cup tie between the Athens club and Dinamo Tbilisi, officials said yesterday.

The investigation of the UEFA Cup tie has also been linked with an ongoing probe into a German refereeing scandal.

"The UEFA inspector is in Athens and has already started his work and he will meet with the football association once his work is completed," a Greek FA official told Reuters.

"He has started his interviews with players from Panionios."

UEFA, the European soccer's governing body, launched an investigation late last year after betting companies alleged foul play during the match.

It has also said the match could be linked to a German match-fixing ring that allegedly was active in Greece and Austria.

Panionios beat the Georgian team 5-2 in Athens after trailing 1-0 at half-time and 2-1 early in the second half.

British betting companies noted unusually heavy betting on exactly such a scenario prompting the investigation.

In Germany's biggest soccer scandal in decades, referee Robert Hoyzer has confessed to fixing matches in the German Cup and lower leagues in return for money from gamblers and has said the ring also fixed matches in Austria and Greece.

At the time the allegations first surfaced days after the UEFA Cup tie, both clubs denied any foul play.

Neither Panionios nor Dinamo Tbilisi made it past the UEFA Cup group stage.