Online betting sites are multiplying and many of them are flocking to Malta.

The problem is these Internet sites are not properly supervised and many of them are suspected of having close links to the Mafia, said Sportvox.fr on Friday.

At the beginning of December, the highly respected German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung revealed that the match at which Liverpool pulverized Besiktas Istanbul eight goals to nil could have been manipulated. Huge sums of money had been bet on the British team winning and Mafia emissaries had approached key players of the Turkish team.

After the revelations by the German paper, its counterpart, Der Spiegel, claimed no less than 26 matches had been manipulated, including a Euro 2008 qualifying match.

UEFA spokesman William Gaillard denied a Euro 2008 match had been manipulated but he admitted there are suspicions regarding preliminary matches between clubs in European competitions and that an inquiry should be held regarding these suspicions.

Over the past years, the number of online betting Internet sites has exploded all over Europe – sites such as Bwin, Bet365, MrBookmaker.

Since 2000, the profits registered by these betting online companies have run into many tens of thousands of millions dollars.

But, Sportvox.fr said, many of these Internet sites are hardly legal and are suspected of being near the Mafia.

“For instance,” the website added, “in France many are not in agreement with the French legislation and it is for this reason they move to countries such as Malta which authorise such activities.

The website defends the French government: it says France cannot do much because the EU is in favour of the free exchange of services.

Besides, since 6 November, France has committed itself to open itself to online gaming, thus removing the monopoly previously held by La Française des Jeux. But doubts persist on the legitimacy of such sites, the website says.

Considering the huge sums of money involved, suspicions increase. The increase in the number of gamblers and the money that can be made attract hardened players. Even footballers like the best goalkeeper in the world, the Italian Buffon, have been implicated in online betting and a German referee was condemned to two years in jail in 2005 after he was found guilty of manipulating matches in the Bundesliga on behalf of the Turkish mafia.

In 2004, FIFA decided that coaches, players and referees cannot place bets and they must also commit themselves to keep away from people who wager huge sums of money as they could be charged in court.

The worst danger comes from Asia, especially since in Thailand and Vietnam it is forbidden to bet online. This has pushed online betting in Asia under cover and people from Asia are gambling huge sums of money with online betting companies.

Over the past few years, there have been a number of scandals and suspicions of matches being manipulated in Belgium, Holland, Germany and France