Now's the time to fight the plague

Israeli soccer has reeked of corruption for quite some time. Team owners battle each other, money changes hands under the table and illegal betting (which is much more profitable than state-sanctioned lotteries) is being carried out by everyone involved in the sport. Everyone's doing it: fans, insiders, team employees, even players and managers. From this situation it is only a small step to match fixing, particularly in the lower leagues.

An insider in this shady underworld clearly and decisively traced the money trail for me on Wednesday. It starts with those who place the bets, moves on to one of the people under investigation in the affair and finally reaches a certain "Big Banker," who just happens to be serving a prison term at the moment. I have no doubt that the police are well aware of all these connections, but they can't prove them - and herein lies the problem. Even if they do manage to convict one of the people arrested, it will end there. The "guilty" party will keep silent, never snitch on his bosses, spend a year or two in jail and emerge from prison a king. Meanwhile, it goes without saying that the "business" will continue as usual.

Perhaps the only good news to emerge from this affair is the decision to involve the police's Lahav 433 unit, which specializes in fighting corruption and organized crime. Only if the police devote all of their resources to this case, in full cooperation with the Israel Football Association (which often seems to prefer to close its eyes and wish the police luck), will it be possible to begin fighting the plague that threatens to take down Israel's most popular industry.

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