It is often said of an unexpected football result that the underdogs had not read the script. After the Uefa Cup tie between Panionios and Dinamo Tbilisi in Greece on Tuesday night, however, many bookmakers suspect that the underdogs had not merely read the script, but had helped to write it too.
One betting expert described it as ”one of the most audacious coups ever attempted”. That it took place around a ”dead rubber”, between two teams with no chance of advancing to the next stage, added to the intrigue.
Bookmakers around the world saw an extraordinary amount of interest in the match, and in particular the possibility that Tbilisi would lead at half-time, but end up losing. A 5-2 win for Panionios, at odds of 66-1 and upwards, was also a surprisingly popular choice.
It is unusual for a team to lead at the break and then lose, so the odds of it happening are normally at least 25-1. On the betting exchange Betfair, however, where punters bet among themselves, the odds against Tbilisi throwing away a half-time lead were just 5,2-1 at kick-off.
A total of £11 000 was staked on this outcome on Betfair at odds between 35-1 and 4-1, while the bookmakers Stan James also reported massive interest. Its initial price of 28-1 on the”double result” was quickly cut to 22-1, and when someone noticed what was happening, it closed its book.
Subsequent events proved that the backers concerned were either clairvoyant or very well-informed.
Tbilisi scored before half-time, but were pulled back to 1-1 not long after the restart. Though they then went back into the lead, Panionios scored twice to lead 3-2 with time running out. Then, in the final two minutes, Panionios added two more goals to reach the 5-2 scoreline that the punters had been so eager to back.
”It stank to high heaven,” Simon Clare, of Coral, said on Thursday. ”To call it an unusual betting pattern would be the understatement of the century.
”We became aware of what was happening when a customer walked into our Chinatown shop and asked for £1 000 in cash at 28-1 on the half-time, full-time result. Then we started checking, and found we’d taken a lot of much smaller bets at 28-1.”
The bookmakers hope that Uefa will investigate the bizarre betting patterns that surrounded a match in one of its flagship competitions.
”This has to be one of the most audacious attempted coups ever,” Clare said. ”If we can’t bet with confidence on one of the world’s major football tournaments, it has to be a cause for concern.”
A Uefa spokesperson said on Thursday night that ”it’s a little bit too early to decide whether we will open an investigation”.
In Athens on Thursday, players from Panionios denied accusations of a fix as they arrived for training.
”That game is history, we’re thinking about the next,” Petr Vlcek, a defender, said. ”Nobody here cares about what others might say. We’re not interested in gambling.
”It’s easy to score in the 89th or 90th minute, because that’s when everyone is tired.”
No comment was available from Dinamo Tbilisi. – Guardian Unlimited