Patrick Kluivert reportedly blackmailed by criminal gang after totting up nearly £900,000 gambling debt while betting on FC Twente while working for club
PATRICK KLUIVERT was blackmailed by a criminal gang over a gambling debt, according to reports in the Netherlands.
The former Ajax, Barcelona and Newcastle striker is currently director of football at Paris Saint-Germain, but a bizarre story has surfaced in his native country.
De Volkskrant report Kluivert got involved with a group of criminals while he was coaching at FC Twente from 2011 to 2012.
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A series of big-money bets saw the 40-year-old accumulate a debt of over nearly £900,000.
The former Dutch international is reported to have betted on matches involving the Twente first team — and this is the subject of the blackmail.
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The gang are reported to have applied “enormous” pressure on the Dutchman in order to recoup the debt.
The report insists there is no proof Kluivert was involved in match-fixing, or illegal betting.
And his actions were not deemed illegal at that time.
Kluivert’s lawyer, Gerard Sprong, has underlined his client’s innocence, insisting he “has had no criminal involvement in the manipulation of football matches “and that he “is only a victim in this case.”
And added that, while he was brought in for questioning, it was “purely as a witness”.
It is understood he was blackmailed until 2014 and this story has emerged following the arrest of five members of the criminal gang.
The PSG director has yet to comment publicly about the case.
Kluivert enjoyed a distinguished football career.
He started off at Ajax and netted a late winner in the 1995 Champions League final at the age of 18 — the youngest goal scorer in the competition’s history.
Two summers later, he moved to AC Milan for a season before joining Barcelona.
After six years in La Liga, he moved to the Premier League with Newcastle before returning to Spain with Valencia.
Kluivert joined PSV Eindhoven in 2006, before retiring at Lille in 2008.