A coach and a journalist were arrested by the National Anticorruption Center for attempt to give bribe in very large amounts. They face up to seven years in jail for offering US$8,000 to the woman coach of the women’s U-17 national team of Moldova for fixing the match with Latvia, IPN reports.

According to the head of the Center’s Criminal Prosecution Division Bogdan Zumbreanu, the woman coach informed the Moldovan Football Federation, which afterward informed the National Anticorruption Center. “The arrested persons were trying to convince her to make certain changes to the position of the players in the field so that the failure wasn’t evident. This fact is regarded as promise and bribe offering to a participant in a sport event,” he stated.

He also said that the conversations were recorded, while the suspects were arrested directly on the field. “Their car was searched. They didn’t manage to transmit the money,” said Bogdan Zumbreanu. A version is that the fixing of the match was ordered by a betting shop.

The match between the national Under 17 squad and Latvia’s similar team was played on August 4. It ended in a 1-1 draw. This score pushed Moldova up to the third position.