Belarusian authorities have decided to bring formal charges against people involved in a recent alleged fixed match of the Belarus Extraliga. While no names or have been made public, any players and/or staff of HC Dinamo Molodechno involved in the game will be charged under a statute of the Belarus criminal code prohibiting players from receiving illegal benefits for manipulating results of sporting events. If convicted, they face up to three years in prison.
The match in question took place between host HC Dinamo Molodechno (which happens to be the farm club of KHL's Dinamo Minsk) and HC Mogilev, on November 12. The hosts, holding a 5-1 lead in the second period ended up allowing five unanswered goals and lost the game 6-5.
A representative of the Investigative Committee of Belarus told Russian news agency RIA that "in the course of the investigation, we received objective information about the unlawful activity and complicity of specific people. The interrogated suspects confirmed that the match was 'fixed'."
The Belarus Hockey Federation had scheduled a disciplinary hearing related to the game for November 18th, but the meeting was postponed indefinitely. No new statements have been issued by the league or the team.
Three player from Dinamo Molodechno were placed on waivers after the game, and the video of the highlights of the match is conspicuously missing from the team's website.
