Debrecen keeper Poleksic denies fixing Liverpool tie

Vukasin Poleksic has blasted claims that he tried to fix a 2009 Champions League game between Debrecen and Liverpool.

The Montenegro international has recently returned to action after a two-year ban for failing to report being approached to throw a tie in the same competition that year against Fiorentina.

Poleksic is alleged to have received payment from an illegal Singapore betting syndicate to concede more than two goals against the Reds, but he believes his performance on that night proves he is innocent.

“Anyone who watched the match would know that what people are saying is bull,” he told The Daily Mail.

“We lost 1-0 at Liverpool and I played a good game. I made lots of saves: a one-on-one against Albert Riera, one from Fernando Torres, one from Steven Gerrard. I remember it all. How can anyone say I threw the game?

“The match did not seem at all odd that night. There was nothing. I was just delighted to be playing at Anfield. It was a great night for me and my club and we played well.

“It was the biggest match of my career. Liverpool have always been my favourite club. I love them and can’t believe what people have said about me.

“But I know I am clean. I just worry that people will believe what is being said.”

Poleksic admits he should have reported the approach he faced ahead of the Fiorentina game and is desperate not to face further punishment for a crime he is insistent he has not committed.

“They called me a week or 10 days before the game and it made it difficult for me to play,” he explained.

“I was so scared of making a mistake in case I was accused of something. I don’t know who the people were who called me. I told them, ‘I don’t do this, I’d never do this, please don’t call me’.

“I don’t know where they were from but I made the mistake of not saying anything. I wasn’t sure it was so serious and I had no information about the people so I didn’t say anything.

“Every goalkeeper in the world makes mistakes but my big one was that I didn’t call the police. I didn’t play for two years because of this but it’s my fault because I didn’t report it.

“But I didn’t fix anything. I came back in June and the club have been behind me the whole time. They know that I have done nothing wrong.

“Nobody understands what I’ve been through. It’s been very difficult for my family too and I couldn’t have got through this without them.”

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