Yorgen Fenech named as suspect in Sicilian match fixing investigation

Yorgen Fenech's name has cropped up in connection with a match fixing investigation in the Sicilian city of Catania. 

Fenech has been mentioned as a person of interest by the public prosecutor of Catania in a probe called I Treni Del Gol (The trains of goals), La Sicilia newspaper reports.

It said that Fenech could not be found and now that he was in custody in Malta, Italian prosecutors are expected to try and speak to him.

It is unclear how Fenech is linked to the alleged match fixing, but the newspaper makes references to the management of betting platforms Betaland.com and Betclu.com, which the report claims are based in Malta.

"Maltese business man Yorgen Fenech, 38, ended up in handcuffs because he was directly or closely involved in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia killed on October 16, 2017," the report read, adding that the Catania prosecution were previously unable to locate him before he was arrested.

Besides Fenech, the investigation includes 11 suspects, which the report has named.

The suspects are all linked to match fixing on two gaming platforms that targeted Italian football matches. Amongst those investigated is the former president of Catania football club, Nino Pulvirenti, who is accused of corrupting footballer Christian Terlizzi of Trapani with €40,000 to fix the Serie B match against Catania, which ended 4-1. 

Terlizzi stands accused of having accepted the offer of money or other benefit to commit fraudulent acts to thwart the result of a fair sports competition.

The report fails to mention how Fenech might be implicated in all this.