Was the Champions League draw fixed?

Was the Champions League draw fixed?

www.dailymail.co.uk

In an extraordinary twist, the draw ended up being exactly the same as the fixtures pulled out during the dress rehearsal.

Although the order in which the ties were drawn was different, the pairings were identical.

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

I watched this unfold. Some of the first news reports that came in labeled this one of the potentially biggest scandals in football/soccer history. Then, the tone of the press releases changed and started headlining this as a "extraordinary coincidence" and "miracle coincidence" and similar.

(For Americans: Champions League is, besides the Superbowl, the worlds biggest Sports event)

This supposed "rehearsal" of the draw was leaked to the Internet prior to the draw:



These were the results of the actual draw:



In my view its is incredibly unlikely that 16 teams were drawn just as rehearsed.

The more likely explanation is that the line-ups are fixed in secret beforehand and they then pretend to be drawing them. Because the data was leaked by someone, they had to invent the story about the "extraordinary coincidence" and the rehearsals.

The Champions League being a many-billion-dollar Business you wouldnt want to leave anything to coincidence.

Im also appalled that most of the major news outlets across Europe are calling this a "fantastic coincidence" without even questioning whether there is more behind it.


www.dailymail.co.uk

If it was fixed, would that even be illegal?

It isn't really "fraud" because no official bets were being place yeah?

As a Manchester city fan I think the past 2 years draws have been more than a little suspect, Add to that the FPP rules

Originally posted by truthinfact
If it was fixed, would that even be illegal?

It isn't really "fraud" because no official bets were being place yeah?

I dont know if bets were placed. But possibly some teams pay certain amounts not to be lined up with certain teams so that they can progress one round. It would mean that the organizer of these games (UEFA) is corrupt and deceiving football/soccer fans everywhere.

Originally posted by Skyfloating

For Americans: Champions League is, besides the Superbowl, the worlds biggest Sports event

I seem to remember reading more than twice as many people watched the Champions League final than watched the Superbowl this year?

I'm not surprised by this. It's a massive money spinner and I've no doubt this is a fix.

And people will just shrug and go 'Blimey, that's a coincidence'.

Wonder what the odds of it are? *off to a calculator*

If it was fixed surely they wouldnt have manchester united facing real madrid so early on.. Seeing as they are the 2 most well known teams in the world.. Along with Barcelona and Milan..

Originally posted by khimbar

I seem to remember reading more than twice as many people watched the Champions League final than watched the Superbowl this year?

Yes, CL probably makes more than Superbowl, but many Americans still aren't familiar with it.

I think the odds are, as the article says 5000 to 1.

As a Man United fan - I think pulling 16 names out the bag identical to the last draw is near impossible.

It's fixed I tell you! Lol.

United till I die!

Originally posted by misscurious
If it was fixed surely they wouldnt have manchester united facing real madrid so early on.. Seeing as they are the 2 most well known teams in the world.. Along with Barcelona and Milan..

Maybe they dont like those teams this year.

Originally posted by Skyfloating

Originally posted by khimbar

I seem to remember reading more than twice as many people watched the Champions League final than watched the Superbowl this year?

Yes, CL probably makes more than Superbowl, but many Americans still aren't familiar with it.

I think the odds are, as the article says 5000 to 1.

Lol I didn't want to click the link to the article as it was the Daily Mail.

That all though? That's lower than I thought.

Originally posted by khimbar

Originally posted by Skyfloating

For Americans: Champions League is, besides the Superbowl, the worlds biggest Sports event

I seem to remember reading more than twice as many people watched the Champions League final than watched the Superbowl this year?

I'm not surprised by this. It's a massive money spinner and I've no doubt this is a fix.

And people will just shrug and go 'Blimey, that's a coincidence'.

Wonder what the odds of it are? *off to a calculator*

The odds are 5.000 to 1 but I find that strangely high seeing as in this round two teams from the same football association cannot compete against each other - Man United couldn't face Arsenal, Real Madrid couldn't face Barcelona, same with the German teams (of course, due to seeding that possibly couldn't have happened anyway).

You must remember it wasn't a simple draw. Conditions were in place that meant no team could play a team from same association or a team that they faced in group stage. So 4 teams from spain can't play each other, 3 german teams, 2 english and italian teams. This cuts the odds massively. Combine that with previous group match-ups you will see there aren't many available outcomes.

That said I wouldn't put it past them to fix it.

Originally posted by Skyfloating

Originally posted by misscurious
If it was fixed surely they wouldnt have manchester united facing real madrid so early on.. Seeing as they are the 2 most well known teams in the world.. Along with Barcelona and Milan..

Maybe they dont like those teams this year.

But from an view of promoting the competition.. would be crap if there were teams like shalke, galatasary porto or malaga in the final which is a real possibility with this draw.

reply to post by something wicked


By the time Man Utd came out, the only possibilities were Real Madrid or PSG (i think) - teams cannot be drawn against teams they were in the group phases with (as well as teams from same country). So i am with you, 5000 to 1 seems extremely high but then my maths skills are best described as "shoddy"!

What is more of a surprise to me is that they need to have a practice draw. Why? It isn't exactly rocket science.

reply to post by misscurious


No, Malaga in the final would be absolutely amazing for the vast majority of football fans (in my opinion). They are a small club and play great football, the kind of ingredients that all true football fans love.

Originally posted by something wicked

Originally posted by khimbar

Originally posted by Skyfloating

For Americans: Champions League is, besides the Superbowl, the worlds biggest Sports event

I seem to remember reading more than twice as many people watched the Champions League final than watched the Superbowl this year?

I'm not surprised by this. It's a massive money spinner and I've no doubt this is a fix.

And people will just shrug and go 'Blimey, that's a coincidence'.

Wonder what the odds of it are? *off to a calculator*

The odds are 5.000 to 1 but I find that strangely high seeing as in this round two teams from the same football association cannot compete against each other - Man United couldn't face Arsenal, Real Madrid couldn't face Barcelona, same with the German teams (of course, due to seeding that possibly couldn't have happened anyway).

They shouldnt face each other at this stage or it becomes a standard domestic game.. Defeats the purpose of having a European competition.

Originally posted by Flavian
reply to post by misscurious

 

No, Malaga in the final would be absolutely amazing for the vast majority of football fans (in my opinion). They are a small club and play great football, the kind of ingredients that all true football fans love.

Your not looking at the bigger picture.. A handful of fans as opposed to millions worldwide that would love to see Madrid, Manchester or Barcelona in the final..

And especially when t comes to promoting the competition to a worldwide audience

reply to post by MrM123


As a Liverpool fan, i think FPP is fantastic. Clubs, like people and governments, should live within their means. And develop their own talent.............which your lot seem to have stopped doing (unfortunately) since you won the jackpot. City used to have a great youth set up............

reply to post by misscurious


I actually totally disagree there. Most football fans do not support a big club, they support their local team. People like seeing the triumph of the underdog - it is an aspirational human thing. For Malaga to win the Champions League (won't happen but fingers crossed anyway) would be a truly wonderful sporting occasion that fans would instantly respond to..............as opposed to the hugely talented but entirely boring Barcelona winning it again or the hugely over priced and expensively assembled Real Madrid squad, etc.