Dutch football matchfixing scandal dates to 2008 KNVB Cup

It seems that the match fixing scandal surrounding Tilburg football club Willem II dates back to the KNVB Cup match against Roda JC in 2008. Emails between a match fixer and former Willem II midfielder Ibrahim Kargbo show that he was paid to ensure that Willem II would lose that match, the Volkskrant reports. According to the newspaper, a total of five Willem II matches were manipulated in 2009. In the emails, Kargbo and the match fixer talk about manipulating three away matches - Willem II and FC Utrecht (1-0), Sparta (2-1) and NAC (4-0). Matches against Ajax (4-0) and Feyenoord (1-0) were also manipulated. The emails also reveal that Kargbo did not work alone. One email from July 2009 states that Kargbo has spoken to the captain of the team and that his teammate agrees. The captain of Willem II at that time was Maikel Aerts. He vehemently denies being bribed or being aware of any form of manipulation. "I have told you before that I have nothing to do with it", he said to the Volkskrant on Thursday. "I also want nothing to do with it. I want to be left alone." Sources told the Volkskrant that the Dutch police team investigating match fixing at Willem II also have these emails in their possession.