Kike Salas of Sevilla under inquiry over yellow cards as he was arrested and then later released by authorities.
Kike Salas has been arrested by police for allegedly deliberately getting booked so that his friends could win bets.
After exercising his right to quiet, the 22-year-old Sevilla defender was taken into custody by police in Seville on Tuesday and then released without being charged.
He is still being investigated and will be questioned by an investigating judge. He might lose his licence for two to five years, be imprisoned for six months to three years, and be fined between €3,006 and €30,051 (£25,275) in accordance with Spanish law and the football federation’s regulations.
According to claims of a tale initially reported by El Confidencial, two friends of the Sevilla defender allegedly profited almost €10,000 in just over a month by betting on Salas receiving yellow cards. This is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Spanish police. They reportedly made over 30 wagers at six bookmakers in the town of Moron de la Frontera, which is 50 kilometres from Sevilla, the 22-year-old’s hometown.
Last season, when Sevilla had nothing left to play for after escaping the relegation zone and into safety, Salas received ten bookings, seven of which came in the team’s final nine games. Despite missing the encounter against Mallorca in week 32 due to suspension, Salas participated in eight of those games.
After serving that suspension, he received yellow cards in minutes 94, 88, 94, 45 (+2), and 36 and was booked in five of the final six games. He was pulled off injured with 20 minutes left in the match against Granada in week 34, the only one in which he was not given a yellow card. At the time, none of the cards attracted notice. One was for a confrontation with an opponent, and the other six were for fouls.
Salas’s phone was confiscated as evidence, and the police also arrested two other guys. According to a brief statement from Sevilla, the team will uphold the presumption of innocence and the legal system during the course of the case. On Wednesday morning, Salas returned to training.
La Liga had requested to be involved in the case, but it was not aware of the accusations until Tuesday. Players receive speeches in which they are informed that neither they nor their families are permitted to wager on football, and posters alerting players to the dangers of match-fixing are shown at training facilities and stadiums throughout the nation.
Salas recently renewed his contract at Sevilla on a salary of €360,000 (£303,000) a year.