If you want to know if something is rotten in the state of Bulgarian soccer, just look at Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
The owner of the first division club administered lie-detector tests to players and coaches because he thought they might have lost Saturday's game against lowly Botev Vratsa on purpose, according to Reuters.
Many fear that match-fixing is rife in Bulgaria, and four games from this season's domestic league are already under formal investigation. Gamblers can bet on most games involving professional clubs in Bulgaria — even those played by junior teams.
Lokomotiv Plovdiv's 1-0 defeat against the worst team in the league aroused the suspicions of the man who signs the paychecks.
"Nobody is insured against defeats but this loss is very strange," Veselin Mareshki said at a news conference Tuesday.
"The fair play principle is the most important thing for me and all players and coaches will take lie detector tests."
The results of the lie-detector tests haven't been revealed, but Mareshki has already taken a giant step toward eliminating match-fixing in his own house. That is, if it was ever a problem in the first place.
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Photo via Facebook/Lokomotiv Plovdiv
