Aston Villa expert shares 'worrying' match-fixing concern

Aston Villa will be concerned ahead of their clash with Olympiacos amid reports about the referee's previous ban for match-fixing.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Alan Hutton insisted that nobody wants to be worrying about match-fixing as he hopes the referee will be fair.

The former Villa defender went on to share his view that he doesn't believe anybody could get away with match-fixing in the modern game.

He suggested that the presence of VAR and the number of cameras at games now would make it impossible.

This comes after reports that referee Felix Zwyer served a six-month ban for the offence in 2005. (The Telegraph, 7 May)

Aston Villa match-fixing concerns raised v Olympiacos

The first leg against Olympiacos was not without its controversies, with Marco Guida, the referee on the day, labelled "dreadful" for his display, as Football Insider reported.

Hutton preferred to ignore the controversy and hope for a good game but did admit he was worried about the news.

"Don't start. I would be [worried] if that's true. I don't know, I've not heard or read anything about it, but I would hope that wouldn't be the case," he told Football Insider.

"You'd like to think that it would be straight down the middle, call it how you see it and no worrying about that.

"Nowadays with all the cameras, the VAR and everybody that's there, you can't get away with stuff like that. I would hope not.

"I'm not going to go down that route, I hope everything's fair and honest and then we just get a good game."

In other news, AZ Alkmaar are front runners to sign Villa gem Lamare Bogarde.

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