European football leaders called on lawmakers Friday to adopt legislation against match-fixing and corrupt betting, as the game's biggest-ever investigation spreads across the continent.
UEFA's strategy council said it demanded a zero-tolerance approach to players, referees and officials involved in the ''growing menace'' of match-fixing.
The panel ''urges the political authorities to engage with UEFA and national football bodies to adopt legislation, which must be enforced by the law enforcement authorities, to protect the integrity of football competitions,'' it said in a statement issued by UEFA.
UEFA is helping anti-corruption police in Bochum, Germany, investigate a scandal that has put more than 270 matches in at least nine domestic leagues - including Germany and Turkey - plus international competitions involving clubs from several more countries, under suspicion.
Croatian-led organized crime syndicates are believed to have made ?7.5 million ($9.6 million) profit betting on matches after paying bribes to manipulate results.
Prosecutors in Bochum charged two men this week, after last month saying that more than 250 people were involved.
Since the criminal investigation was revealed last November, UEFA has used some of the information gathered to bring sporting sanctions.
UEFA has issued life bans to two referees, from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine, and suspended a Croatian assistant referee until June 2011.
In June, UEFA suspended two players from Hungarian champion Debrecen for two years and 18 months, respectively, for failing to report an approach by match-fixers before a Champions League group match last year. The players have appealed against their sentences.
UEFA is investigating claims that the first-leg of Croatia's cup final last year was manipulated. The match referee who sent off two Hajduk Split players and awarded Dinamo Zagreb a penalty in its 3-0 victory was questioned last week.
In a separate Spanish case, the national federation is looking into reports that newly promoted club Hercules of Alicante tried to buy victories last season to ensure it reached the lucrative top division.
Meeting Friday on the sidelines of this season's Champions League draw in Monte Carlo, UEFA's strategy council said it ''recognized and understands the gravity of the match-fixing threat.''
The panel comprises representatives of Europe's 53 national federations, leagues, elite clubs and players' unions, and is chaired by UEFA president Michel Platini who created it to advise the European football authority's ruling executive.
''The strategy council believes that fighting match-fixing needs education, prevention and deterrents,'' it said, calling on UEFA ''to intensify and extend its education program'' in cooperation with football's stakeholders.
Under Platini's leadership, UEFA has invested in its own investigations unit and an early warning system to detect betting fraud.
It has monitored more than 29,000 matches in the past year played in its Champions League and Europa League, the top two divisions of each national league, plus domestic cup competitions.
