European football’s governing body has denied being given evidence of a referee who took bribes in the Forest v Anderlecht European Cup semi final years before taking action.
In 1984, the president of Belgian club RSC Anderlecht was found to have bribed the referee ahead of the second leg of their European Cup tie with Nottingham Forest.
An investigation carried out by BBC’s Inside Out has made the claim that UEFA were told about the bribe as early as 1992 but did not take action until 1997, when Anderlecht were banned from European competition for one season.
UEFA were initially not going to take any action against Anderlecht because the bribery took place more than 10 years after action was planned.
On Monday the body told Notts TV News they did not have have information about the incident until 1997.
Nottingham Forest won the home leg 2-0 before losing 3-0 away in Anderlecht in a match which included ‘one of the most ridiculous’ penalty decisions and a ‘perfectly good goal’ that was disallowed, according to Garry Birtles.
Audio: Garry Birtles speaks about the allegations
The striker, who was a substitute that played in the game, said: “It still rankles with some of the lads now because for some of them because we were denied an opportunity to get to a major tournament.
“It’s out of order, it’s wrong and should never have happened.”
The penalty decision was one of the most ridiculous
Garry said that it was painful to watch the events of the match unfold.
He said: “I was sat on the bench coming back from injury and as a sub, you can see what’s happening more than when you’re on the pitch.
“The penalty decision was one of the most ridiculous I’ve ever seen.
“We also scored a perfectly good goal in the last minute where there was no infringement but it was disallowed; we were off celebrating but they were counter attacking as a free kick was given.
“Brian Clough said he always thought there was something going on too.”
The findings of the investigation appear on Inside Out on BBC One East Midlands at 7.30pm tonight.
UEFA have denied receiving the information before taking action against Anderlecht 1997.
The governing body issued a statement which said: “UEFA received the dossier in question in 1997 and launched a full investigation led by the then head of the disciplinary department, and the Vice-Chairman of the UEFA Appeals Body.
“This detailed investigation included interviews with several persons involved in the case and was the basis of the September 1997 UEFA Executive Committee decision to impose a one-year ban on Anderlecht.
“The Belgian club appealed this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 1998 and since it won this appeal, that meant that UEFA could no longer pursue this case.”
