Volos Mayor Beos among 85 to face trial over match-fixing

Former Olympiakos Volou President and current Volos Mayor Achilleas Beos, Super League President Giorgos Borovilos, businessman Giorgos Tsakogiannis, and dozens of players, coaches, betting agents and Greek soccer officials are among 85 of the 158 original defendants who will stand trial for their alleged involvement in a match-fixing scandal that rocked domestic soccer in 2011, a council of appeals court judges decided Thursday.

The charges the defendants will face include membership of a criminal organization, bribery, manipulation of results and illegal betting.

In his recommendation to the court, prosecutor Panayiotis Poulios accused Beos of directing a criminal organization, money laundering and criminal activity that defrauded the then state-controlled gaming company OPAP of millions of euros from 2008 to 2011.

Charges were dropped against the rest of the defendants, including Olympiakos owner Vangelis Marinakis, due to a lack of evidence.

However, Marinakis was last month banned from soccer by a corruption-investigating judge looking into another match-fixing scandal involving games held between 2011 and 2013.

The shipowner and businessman was ordered to post bail of 200,000 euros and to report to his local police station every 15 days until his trial.