European football leaders called on lawmakers Friday to adopt legislation against match-fixing and corrupt betting, as the game’s biggest-ever investigation spreads across the continent.

UEFA’s strategy council said it demanded a zero-tolerance approach to players, referees and officials involved in the “growing menace” of match-fixing.

The panel “urges the political authorities to engage with UEFA and national football bodies to adopt legislation, which must be enforced by the law enforcement authorities, to protect the integrity of football competitions,” it said in a statement issued by UEFA.

A group of football fans in Athens damaged the field at their own stadium in order to keep a rival Greek team from playing a Europa League match at the venue.

Greek police say about 30 Panionios fans caused extensive damage to their own ground late Tuesday. The stadium had been chosen to host AEK Athens’ match against Scottish club Dundee United on Thursday because of bad turf conditions at AEK’s home stadium.

The vandals knocked down the goal posts, dug holes in the turf, burned a team bench and sprayed abusive slogans against AEK and UEFA.

An AEK spokeswoman says the club has suggested the second-leg match should be played at Olympiakos’ stadium, and UEFA is considering the proposal.

AEK won the first leg 1-0.

Ukraine national team coach Myron Markevych resigned on Saturday in protest at the Ukrainian Football Federation’s decision to punish the club he coaches for fixing a league match in 2008.

Metalist Kharkiv and Karpaty Lviv were each deducted nine points and fined $25,000, and all Karpaty players had penalties of $5,000 to $10,000 imposed over an April 2008 game that ended 4-0 to Markevych’s Metalist side.

Markevych was not implicated in the case, but said he had “no moral right to work for an organization that is deliberately destroying Kharkiv football.”

The Spanish football federation (RFEF) has dropped investigations into alleged match fixing by promoted La Liga club Hercules after being denied access to evidence from a separate judicial probe.

Taped conversations, collected by a judge as part of an investigation in Hercules’ hometown of Alicante, have been widely reported in local media, allegedly suggesting the club tried to influence the outcome of matches.

Hercules have denied any wrongdoing.

“(The court) has ended the possibility that the conversations, which are the basis for the accusations, can be used…” the federation said in a statement on their website (www.rfef.es).

The judge ruled that releasing the tapes would violate the privacy and individual rights of those involved. Without any further evidence with which to proceed the RFEF’s competitions committee “decided unanimously not to open a disciplinary investigation.”

Hercules were promoted to Spain’s top flight following more than a decade in the second division after finishing second behind Real Sociedad last season.

Second division Real Betis and Segunda B (third tier) Cadiz lodged formal complaints against Hercules in early August.

Hercules said in a statement earlier this month that suggestions the goalkeeper of rival club Cordoba had been paid to throw a match at the beginning of May which Hercules won 4-0 were false.

Levski Sofia’s team bus was hit by stones and bottles following the Bulgarian club’s Europa League playoff game against AIK Stockholm in Sweden, local media reported on Friday.

AIK fans pelted the visitors’ bus with stones and bottles and clashed with police after the goalless draw at the Rasunda Stadium on Thursday. Pictures showed the windows of the bus were smashed.

Levski President Todor Batko was hit by a bottle and said he had never seen anything like it.

“It’s shocking,” an angry Batkov told reporters. “Sweden is a civilized country and such scenes are completely inadmissible.

Guadalajara players say they were attacked by Internacional fans after their defeat in the Copa Libertadores final on Wednesday.

Players said midfielder Marco Fabian De la Mora was punched by fans who entered the field to celebrate Internacional’s 3-2 victory, which gave the Brazilian club the title of Latin America’s most important club competition. The alleged attack led to a quick scuffle between players from both teams.

“What happened is that a fan entered the field and hit our player,” Guadalajara coach Jose Luis Real said. “That’s what caused the problem. It shouldn’t have happened.”

The Croatian Football Federation says a UEFA investigator is questioning a Croatian referee about a national league match the German police suspect was fixed.

Bruno Maric was questioned for three hours on Wednesday in Zagreb. He didn’t talk to the press.

Maric was the ref when Dinamo Zagreb beat Hajduk Split 3-0 in the final of the national Cup.

Zoran Mamic, the Dinamo manager, recently testified at UEFA about the match. He says he went there as a witness, but the Sportske Novosti daily claims he is a suspect, too.

German prosecutors, who have been investigating match-fixing across Europe since November, said recently they suspect 270 matches in several countries, including Croatia, and more than 250 people.

They say profits from manipulated bets amounted to ?7.5 million ($9.6 million).

Popular Iranian footballer Ali Karimi, sometimes described as "the Maradona of Asia," has been fired by his club for not fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the club said on Sunday.

Steel Azin FC said on its website www.steelazin.com that it was "forced to sack one of its players, Ali Karimi, for being disobedient and not fasting during Ramadan," when devout Muslims fast from dawn until dusk.

Karimi, who was the Asian Player of 2004, had even "insulted officials of the (Iranian) football federation and the Tehran team's supervisor who confronted him on the issue," Steel Azin said.

AEK Athens president Stavros Adamidis has spoken of “sabotage from within” after coach Dusan Bajevic was attacked by fans following a pre-season friendly defeat on Saturday.
Bajevic, 61, fell to the ground after being punched by fans who surrounded the Serbian coach as he attempted to leave the pitch following the 2-1 defeat by second tier side Kallithea.
“What happened is a disgrace for AEK,” Adamidis told NovaSport FM radio. “The administration is determined and we will keep the coach. What happened is unacceptable.”
Bajevic, who is in a third spell with the club, has endured a rocky relationship with sections of the fans due to previous spells in charge of rivals Olympiakos.
There are fears that this latest episode may lead to his resignation, but Adamidis said the coach would stay on.
“I have spoken to him and he is very shocked,” Adamidis said. “But rest assured we will not let him go. We call on the real AEK fans to rid the club of these problems.”
AEK have been starved of success in recent years but before Saturday’s match they had begun the pre-season impressively, defeating Blackburn Rovers and Rangers in a tournament in Australia.

Two Russian league matches were postponed on Friday as heavy smog, caused by wildfire, tinderbox conditions, cloaked sweltering Moscow, sparking health fears for players and fans.
Spartak Moscow's home clash with Zenit St Petersburg and the Moscow derby between Dynamo and CSKA were called off as high levels of toxic particles were detected.
However, Spartak said the league's decision had been too hasty, as their game was still two days away.
"A match is usually cancelled on the day, not with two days remaining," said Spartak spokesman Leonid Trakhtenberg.
Earlier on Friday, the Russian Football Union (RFU) moved Wednesday's friendly match with Bulgaria to Saint Petersburg also because of the heavy smog in Moscow.
"It's impossible to play in Moscow under existing conditions. It can be dangerous for the players' health," said RFU chief Sergei Fursenko.
The RFU chief also said the decision to transfer the match to St Petersburg was approved by Bulgarian football federation.
Forecasters warned that the record heatwave was going to continue in the coming days, with little rain forecast and the mercury again expected to hit 38 degrees Celsius (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit) later.
Russia is battling its worst forest fires in modern history with emergency services still struggling to contain the flames.