A Second Division match in Estonia has been stopped mid-play after integrity officials at the Estonian Football Association (EJL) detected suspicious activity in the live betting market.
Maardu Linnameeskond led FC Tallinn 2-1 early in the second half before Tallinn scored three goals in seven minutes, one from a penalty, to move ahead 4-2. Shortly after that sequence, referee Jagnar Jakobson stopped the match in the 78th minute on instruction from EJL integrity officials monitoring betting activity.
Margus Kröönström, the match inspector, described the case as betting fraud “with a certainty level of 200%.”
EJL provisionally suspended Maardu head coach Deniss Kovtun and players Artjom Volkov and Vladislav Churilkin from all football activity while the case is investigated.
Two days before the match, EJL had already opened a disciplinary file against Maardu over suspected integrity violations, including alleged involvement in betting and a possible prior agreement on the result.
EJL filed a criminal complaint with Estonia's prosecutor's office, moving the case into the judicial system alongside the disciplinary process. Maardu's next fixture was postponed, and the outcome of the suspended match, including whether it will be replayed, completed or the scoreline upheld, remains pending.
According to Estonian football authorities, only two comparable interventions have occurred previously in the country, in the top-tier Meistriliiga in 2013 and in the Esiliiga in 2016, though those cases were investigated after the final whistle rather than during play. Maardu said it would cooperate fully with both the federation and judicial authorities.
The Australian Government has recently introduced a bill that would make match-fixing a federal criminal offence
