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A former referee has accused the UEFA of rigging the Champions League and Europa League quarter-final draws in order to keep Europe’s elite apart.
Ahmet Cakar refereed in the Champions League and at the 1996 European Championship games and has always been known for his controversial remarks since his retirement.
He claimed that a combination of levers and vibration balls were used to keep Real Madrid and Barcelona apart. Real got a presumably easy fixture against Galatasaray and Barcelona face Paris Saint-Germain.
“UEFA manipulated the draw for both the Champions League and Europa League,” Cakar said. According to his theory, those who were carrying out the draw had some kind of metal objects with them that sensed vibration in the balls being selected.
In December, the draw for the Champions League last-16 came up with exactly the same line-up of fixtures as in the practice draw earlier in the day; the odds of that happening were thought to be one in 2 million.
