The Ministry of Interior has filed criminal charges against Sileks player Stojan Velinov for match fixing.

Big problems await the 26-year-old Stojan Velinov. He was implicated in a criminal scheme for match fixing, colluding with nationals from Bulgaria, to get some of his Sileks teammates to throw games. All of that backfired on May 18 when Sileks defeated Metalurg 3:1. That was a game that Velinov instructed several of his teammates to lose on purpose, but as mentioned Sileks would win that game 3:1.

The Bulgarian nationals who worked with Velinov to fix games were irate at the result, and that led to threats for other Sileks players. The Ministry of Interior was made aware of the suspicious match and then conducted interviews with four members of the club. They were all done separately, but the stories were consistent for each player that was interrogated. They all said they were offered 1,200 Euros to lose the match on purpose. However, they didn’t accept that offer. So, at this time, no charges will be filed against the four players (who were unnamed).

This is a black eye for Macedonian football. Match fixing is a serious problem that can never be tolerated. Since the Interior Ministry had strong evidence to file criminal charges against Velinov, he ought to receive a very severe punishment. A lifetime ban would be something that can send a strong message. There should be no mercy when someone messes with the integrity of the game.

To entire article about the charges can be read on the Ministry of Interior website.