Croatian man convicted in soccer match-fixing trial in Germany, gets 10 months in prison

BOCHUM, Germany – A Croatian man has been convicted in a match-fixing trial in Germany and sentenced to 10 months in prison.

Milan Sapina was found guilty of making about $7,370 betting on manipulated matches in Turkey and Austria. He is the brother of Ante Sapina, who was also convicted by the same Bochum court but whose case has been sent back for a retrial.

Judge Markus van den Hoevel says in his ruling Monday that "such bets ruin the sport."

Both brothers had been found guilty in the 2005 match-fixing scandal. Ante Sapina served prison time, but Milan was given a suspended sentence.

Milan Sapina's trial was the fourth in a series of cases stemming from the 2009 match-fixing scandal that was at the time called the biggest in Europe.