Kike Salas was arrested by the National Police of Spain.
Spain.- The National Police of Spain arrested Sevilla player Kike Salas for his alleged involvement in match-fixing. According to reports, Salas is accused of inducing yellow cards in football matches to benefit friends and family in sports betting.
The investigation, led by the court in Morón de la Frontera, Salas' hometown, suggests that in at least ten matches between matchdays 31 and 38 of the last season, the player fixed these matches. A total of 30 manipulated bets were made, yielding profits of about €10,000 in one month.
Salas testified before the court for an alleged fraud offense, according to the media outlet El Confidencial. In addition to him, two more people from the player's close circle are suspected to be involved in the events, although more participants have not been ruled out. In fact, two of his friends were also arrested.
The focus is on the end of the last season, when Sevilla no longer had competitive goals, which makes the player's behavior suspicious.
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The matches under suspicion correspond to the 2023/24 season, in which Salas established himself as a starter in a team that still included figures like Marcos Acuña, Lucas Ocampos, Alejo Veliz, and Sergio Ramos. Investigators identified that Salas was cautioned in seven of the last eight league matches, including three times in the first half and three more in the final minutes (after the 88th minute). In the only game he did not receive a card, he left due to injury. Before this streak, he had received only two yellow cards in his first 15 league matches.
