When Owners (And Fake Owners) Fix Their Own Teams

Match-fixing is not just the domain of coaches and players alone. In Costa Rica and Australia, fixers have moved into the boardroom. And often, they didn't even wait for the ink to dry.

This might seem incredibly naive, but there’s something particularly jarring when a fix is organized, not by a player, or a referee, but the owner of a football team.

Costa Rica has dealt with two such cases in quick succession.

The latest scandal erupted at second-division Asociación Deportiva Municipal Turrialba. On February 10, 2025, ten Turrialba players were summoned to the team’s new clubhouse. Club president, José Rolando Pereira, was waiting for them with two Mexican staff members appointed only a day earlier, sporting director Ernesto de la Torre and head coach Enrique Valencia. The trio promised each player $300 if they agreed to lose that evening’s league match against Cariari by a specific pre-arranged score.

This ham-fisted attempt at bribery immediately backfired. Those present rebuffed the bribe and left outraged. Brya…