MADRID — Former Mexico coach Javier Aguirre has denied taking money that was allegedly used to fix the result of a Spanish league game eight years ago.
Aguirre testified Thursday in the match-fixing trial involving a game between Levante and Zaragoza at the end of the 2010-11 season.
Aguirre, Zaragoza’s coach at the time, is one of more than 40 people who could face two years in prison and a six-year ban from soccer if found guilty.
Prosecutors said there is evidence that 965,000 euros (nearly $1 million) was paid to Zaragoza’s squad and later transferred to Levante’s players to lose the match in the final round of the season.
Zaragoza won 2-1 to avoid relegation. Deportivo La Coruna was demoted as a result.
Former Zaragoza officials said the money was paid to motivate players, not fix the result of the game.
Aguirre and some of the players who have testified denied Zaragoza’s version that the money was paid as an incentive.
Aguirre said he received a deposit without his consent and returned the money to the club because it was not part of his contract.
The players said they were asked as a favour to the club to withdraw the money deposited into their accounts and return it in cash, which they said they did.
Among the 36 players accused are Ander Herrera, now with Paris Saint-Germain; former Leicester midfielder Vicente Iborra; former Atletico Madrid captain Gabi Fernandez; River Plate midfielder Leonardo Ponzio; Serbian defender Ivan Obradovic; Lazio forward Felipe Caicedo; Itailan defender Maurizio Lanzaro; and Uruguay striker Cristhian Stuani.
Herrera, Ponzio and Fernandez were among the players who testified on Thursday.
Prosecutors said players on both teams were aware of the match-fixing. They said they found evidence the money was transferred to Levante players after analyzing tax reports and banking transactions at the time.
A lower court had shelved the case but it was reopened last year after an appeal by prosecutors in Valencia, where Levante is based and where the match was played.
Even if found guilty, it’s unlikely that those being accused would face actual prison time because sentences of two years or less for first-time offenders are often suspended in Spain.
Zaragoza returned to the second division in 2014. Levante is currently in Spain’s top league.
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