FC Bayern Forum

Germany striker Miroslav Klose last night insisted Bayern Munich's players had laughed off astonishing claims their UEFA Cup semi-final defeat to Zenit St Petersburg could have been 'fixed' by the Russian mafia.

Zenit set up their Final meeting with Rangers on May 14 - which they won 2-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium - thanks to a resounding 4-0 second-leg triumph over Bayern in Russia.

Reports from Spain earlier this week stated that Spanish investigating judge Baltasar Garzon had forwarded recordings purporting to reveal a match-fixing plot to the German authorities.

It was claimed taped telephone conversations between Gennadios Petrov, the alleged head of a Russian mafia gang in Spain, and his associate Leonid Khristoforovit, boasted in advance of the deciding game with Bayern that Zenit would win 4-0.

Those allegations have been met with bewilderment in Germany, with Bayern forward Klose dismissing out of hand any suggestion of impropriety. 'I cannot believe any of this at all,' said Klose.

'In fact, we have been making jokes about it in our locker room.'

Spanish newspaper ABC also claimed Petrov and Khristoforovit had bragged in the taped conversations of spending between 20 million and 40m euros to 'buy' Zenit's success over Bayern and then Rangers. The Ibrox club are not implicated in any way.

Zenit have reacted with fury to the allegations that their triumphs may have been somehow tainted by mob money, with the Russian government yesterday entering the row.

Sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who also serves as the president of the Russian football union, said it was another attempt to discredit the progress made by the nation's football teams. 'This is not just an attempt to discredit Zenit, but Bayern as well,' Mutko, who was Zenit president from 1999 to 2003, said on Russian television.

'Bayern have so many great players - Kahn, Klose, Toni, Ze Roberto, Lucio… how can you bribe them? I don't think you can buy a victory over Bayern.'

Zenit also moved to further distance themselves from reports of the alleged plot.

'There is nothing to comment on because, even if there is some investigation, Zenit has nothing to do with this,' said Alexei Petrov, a spokesman for the St Petersburg club.

'We have nothing to do with whoever it is that is alleged to be behind this, whether it is so-called Russian mafia or whoever.'

UEFA director of communications William Gaillard said European football's governing body had asked the Spanish FA to speak to the legal authorities in Madrid and request the release of information relating to the case.

Gaillard insisted UEFA had not spoken to Bayern Munich or Zenit St Petersburg and could not launch any investigation until granted the right to see details held by the Spanish police and therefore establish the credibility of the allegations.

MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - Zenit St. Petersburg and Bayern Munich have demanded that a Spanish newspaper retract a story suggesting that the sides' UEFA Cup semifinal was fixed, Sovetski-Sport reported on Wednesday.

The El Pais report in early October suggested that the May 1 game was fixed in favor of the Russian champions, who also intend to file a libel case against the paper in a Spanish court later this week, the Russia sports paper said.

El Pais reported that during intercepted telephone calls between Russian gang leaders Gennady Petrov and Leonid Khristoforov, the mafia bosses bragged about paying "some 50 million" to ensure that Zenit would win the second leg of the semifinal. The currency was not indicated.

The two men were arrested by Spanish police in June.

German authorities subsequently looked into the fix allegations, but did not find "enough evidence to justify a thorough investigation."

Zenit won the home leg of their semifinal match against Bayern 4-0, after drawing the first encounter 1-1 in Germany. They went on to lift the UEFA Cup, beating Glasgow Rangers 2-0 in the final, a game which has also been the subject of fix claims by the Spanish media.

"Lots of people in Europe don't like the fact that Russian soccer is growing stronger," Russian soccer chief Vitali Mutko said earlier. "We have started to take our place among the world leaders, and this doesn't sit well with a lot of people."