Sevilla star Kike Salas faces the prospect of three years in prison after being arrested for allegedly picking up deliberate yellow cards in matches.
The defender, who has represented the Spanish side at U21 level, is under investigation for incidents that took place last season. Salas has been accused of intentionally getting himself booked in a number of matches to allow at least two accomplices to make money, according to Spanish outlet El Confidencial.
Spanish police are focusing their investigation on a number of matches from the final few weeks of the 2023/24 season. By that point Sevilla had nothing to play for. A court in the Spanish city are now looking into the allegations. They’ve refused to rule out the prospect that other players could be involved.
Salas was booked 10 times in total last season – but seven of those bookings came in the final nine games of the season. The only match he missed was the one he was suspended for.
Further suspicion is raised by the timing of Salas’ yellow cards. Three of his bookings came late in games – once in the 88th minute and, on two occasions, he received a yellow in the 94th minute.
Authorities are now working on the suspicion that several of those yellow cards were deliberate with the theory being Salas had friends looking to benefit financially. If found guilty, Salas faces a prison sentence of anywhere between six months and three years.
Salas joined Sevilla at the age of 11 and has played 54 times for the La Liga outfit. During that time he’s earned two U21 caps. He extended his contract at the Spanish side in December 2024, which would see him stay at the club until the end of the summer of 2029.
The accusations facing Salas are similar to those faced by West Ham star Lucas Paqueta – who risks being banned from playing for life after being accused of gambling breaches.
The Brazilian has been accused of being deliberately getting a yellow card in Premier League games against Leicester, Aston Villa, Leeds and Bournemouth across the period that spanned from November 2022 and August 2023. The FA are pushing for Paqueta to be banned for life – despite one of the bets placed on him worth just £7. They took an extremely strong stance with Ivan Toney, who was banned for eight months after breaching betting rules.
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