Balkan Police Help Crack Crime in Belgian Football

Serbia's organised crimes prosecutor's office said on Wednesday that Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia took part in an international operation cracking down on corruption in Belgium's biggest football clubs, including Club Brugge and Anderlecht.

The Belgian authorities have reportedly investigated fraud, tax evasion and money laundering in 10 national football clubs, leading to a total of 57 raids in several European countries on Wednesday.

The operation saw the arrests of big names in Belgian soccer, such as Brugge coach Ivan Leko and influential agent Mogi Bayat.

The Serbian prosecutor's office said that Serbian authorities had participated in the joint action with police from Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Macedonia and Montenegro.

"Because of suspicions that Serbian citizens were involved in laundering money gained through illegal machinations in Belgian football clubs, searches have been conducted in six locations in Belgrade and Nis," the prosecutor's office said in a press release.

The statement said police found 800,000 euros that the suspects tried to "launder" on Serbian territory, and that prosecutors were interrogating an unspecified number of suspects.

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