Dutch football players involved owned shares in illegal gambling site: report

Multiple Eredivisie football players were involved in the illegal gambling site Edobet, which is now defunct, AD reports. Sparta Rotterdam players Tom Beugelsdijk and Aaron Meijers owned shares in the company. And AZ player and Oranje international Jordy Clasie transferred 30,000 euros into an Edobet account, the newspaper wrote based on purchase contracts and banking transactions.

Last year, the authorities linked Edobet with a criminal organization allegedly run by Piet S. from The Hague. S. is accused of large-scale drug trafficking. According to the authorities, his son Freddy S. founded the gambling company in 2017. 

According to AD, Beugelsdijk and Meijers bought 1 and 2 percent of Edobet's shares, respectively. Beugelsdijk agreed that his share would be paid out after his professional football career. The gambling site also offered shares to other footballers, the newspaper wrote. For example, ADO DEN Haag's Ricardo Kishna was offered a 50,000 euros share contract that he ultimately did not sign. 

According to broadcaster NOS, Beugelsdijk and Meijers could face hefty fines from FIFA if they actually owned shares in the illegal gambling site. They also run the risk of being banned from football for years. Dutch football association KNVB did not want to comment to NOS, only saving that "in theory" it is investigating whether FIFA rules were broken.

Sparta Rotterdam told the broadcaster that Beugelsdijk and Mayors were not employed by Sparta at the time of the investments. "Both players indicated that the invested amounts were only intended as a temporary investment after their active football career," a spokesperson for the club said. "They have also both stated that they are not currently a shareholder in the now defunct company."