2 referees, 1 football official acquitted of bribery charges in Czech match fixing case

PRAGUE, Czech Republic—A court in the Czech capital has acquitted two former referees and a football official of bribery charges.

Referee Tomas Adamek stood trial after he admitted he was paid 200,000 koruna ($9,900) to fix Baumit Jablonec’s home game against Viktoria Plzen in the top Czech league on March 17, 2012—a 2-0 win for Plzen.

Another referee, Pavel Byma, who was a witness and didn’t report wrongdoing, and Martin Svoboda, a football official who offered the bribe according to police investigators, were also acquitted by the Prague-West county court.

Judge Jitka Drabkova ruled on Thursday that there was not enough evidence to convict the three.

The case is not over yet because the state prosecutor has appealed.