At a press conference, the prosecutor against organized crime, Emeldo Márquez, announced that the individuals detained are "two current players" and "a former player" from the Panamanian league. They will be brought before the courts in the coming hours "for a crime against the economic order." The names of the athletes were not disclosed, nor were the clubs they played for.

“Some players were in cahoots with gamblers to rig matches and achieve results that would allow the gamblers to win,’ said Panama's chief prosecutor”, Javier Caraballo.

According to prosecutor Márquez, the detainees ‘offered and promised current league players amounts of money ranging from $2,500 to $4,500’ to obtain certain results ‘for bets’.

“They were working with people from abroad who in one way or another helped them to provide the money to make the payments to the athletes", Márquez said.

Those payments were given in cash to players ‘immediately’ after matches, although bitcoin transactions were also made, Márquez added.

The investigations began following a complaint made in 2023 by the Panamanian Football Federation (Fepafut) about alleged match-fixing in the local league.

Márquez did not give details of the matches that were allegedly match-fixed. However, he did not rule out further arrests ‘of other players or people outside the league who are linked to these events’.

Tip of the iceberg

The Panamanian Football League is a semi-professional competition, without large training centres or stadiums, except for the Rommel Fernández, where the local team plays, in Panama City.

Attendance at matches is low and footballers earn an average monthly salary of around US$2,500. In 2022, they went on strike to demand recognition of their right to social security and other employment benefits.

In 2021, the federation announced a programme to denounce possible match-fixing and warned teams that it would have ‘zero tolerance’ for such practices.

At that time, the federation invited clubs to report, even anonymously, if ‘any person becomes aware of match-fixing or illegal betting’.

In 2023, former Panama coach Gary Stempel denounced alleged match-fixing in the league.

“There is talk here about match-fixing, which is a scandal, and in the press they keep quiet. The league no longer has any credibility,” said Stempel.

“Today we are taking the first steps in this investigation and the task of putting an important end to this crime begins. As we say in Panama, it could be the tip of the iceberg,” said Fepafut president Manuel Arias.

In Panama, football has been gaining popularity over baseball and boxing. Now, former strikers Julio Dely Valdes and the late Rommel Fernandez compete in popularity with boxing legend Roberto ‘Manos de Piedra’ Duran and former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

"For us, our competition and the integrity of our competition is extremely important,’ said Arias, who said FIFA “is aware of all the investigations”.

“We are trying to send the message that not only are there going to be administrative sanctions by the federation, but that there are criminal liabilities for engaging in this type of conduct,” Arias said.