“I don’t have any substantial information that there are any nefarious things going on,” Schröter told the court. He is said to have read about the alleged match-fixing for money later. They had a working relationship with Berber and met, for example, at seminars where the referees were invited by the union management. He also denied that other defendants tried to influence him – the Slavoj Vyšehrad club or former football official Martin Svoboda, nicknamed Chřestýš.
“I chose him because he was a good referee. He had good communication with the clubs and other referees. With the clubs it was 100 percent, with the other referees it took a while before they took him as a boss,” commented Berbr.
The judge read other statements, including the statement made to the police by former referee and member of the referees’ commission Roman Hrubeš, who was in charge of introducing video referees (VAR). However, at the initiative of the then head of the referees’ commission, Jozef Chovanc, he was recalled, allegedly under Berbra’s pressure. “Weepy and inaccurate statements are read here, which are intended to have a negative effect on me,” commented Berbr.
Former referee Petr Tarkovský in court in the case concerning Roman Berbra. Video: Klára Mrázová, Sport.cz
Fearing that she might face possible prosecution, she refused to testify in the afternoon as a witness to the next part of the indictment, which accuses Berbro of embezzling money from the Pilsen Regional Football Association through fictitious invoices.
The public prosecutor filed an indictment against 21 people from the football environment and FC Slavoj Vyšehrad. According to the indictment, Berbr was at the head of an organized group that participated in the manipulation of ten matches of the third and second leagues in 2019 and 2020. According to the prosecutor, bets also play a role in the case. Berbro faces up to 12 years in prison for being a leader in an organized criminal group. He denies guilt, as do most of the defendants. Four men admitted their guilt, and in September, the court confirmed the suspended and monetary penalties they had agreed with the public prosecutor.
Other witnesses are scheduled to be interviewed this week and next week, for example former vice-chairman of the referees commission Martin Wilczek is scheduled to testify on Tuesday.
2023-10-16 23:23:12
#judge #Schröter #Berber #trial #Pilsen #corruption #Sport.cz
