Why the Czech Republic's Reckoning with Match-Fixing Was a Long Time Coming

The country has been near the top of global match-fixing tables for years. The Sports and Crime Briefing explores why the Czech Republic has never been able to clean up its sports. Until now.

On the morning of 24 March 2026, officers from NCOZ (Czech National Centre Against Organised Crime) descended on dozens of addresses across Moravia just after 6am. Coordinated with Europol, INTERPOL, and UEFA’s Anti-Match-Fixing Unit, the operation was the largest police intervention in the history of Czech football.

Within 48 hours, 32 individuals had been formally charged. Within a week, four were in pretrial detention and 47 disciplinary proceedings had been launched against players, referees, and clubs.

Two days after the raids, the Czech national team walked out at the Letná Stadium in Prague to face the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup play-off semi-final. They won on penalties. A week after that, they beat Denmark on penalties too.

For the first time since 2006, Czechia was heading to a World Cup, while its domestic football system imploded beneath it.

And yet the conditions that led to these arrests largely remains in place. This scandal erupted because of the astounding work of the Czech FA’s (FAČR) integrity team, led by Kamil Javůrek, for the last three years.

The Operation: Fifty Doors, Thirty-Two Charges

What exactly happened on the morning of 24 March?