Champions League draw rigged?

[Guest The Architect]

Don't flay me alive just yet, but it's football conspiracy time again...

 

Because of something I only found out about today - this.

 

2 hours before the draw this guy gets the whole draw right, and 2 bookies refused several people on the bets offered on the same information. Why the refusal and what were the chances of this guy getting it all right?

 

It's just too good to be true for Chelsea me thinks.

 

Final in Moscow ~ Abramovich is Russian ~ It'd be fitting for Chelsea to get semi-final revenge on Liverpool ~ 2nd leg is at Stanford Bridge this time... latter's only fair though.

 

But that would explain the dodgy penalty decision given against Arsenal, and the Arsenal one that wasn't given but clearly should've been in the first-leg.

 

I'm guessing Chelsea will beat Manchester United, last years other CL semi-final loser, in this years' final. I hope to God I'm wrong, because if I'm not, I won't be able to help but think this Champions League was rigged.

 

I know I was being ridiculous about the whole World Cup thing, and that's in the past now, but this time, I might be on to something.

 

Could just be a coincidence, though, but I don't believe it is.

 

Thoughts?

 

Be nice.

Edited April 9, 2008 by The Architect

[random n00b]

Well. If you shout "Conspiracy!" every time, you're bound to be right eventually...

 

And no, Chelsea won't beat Manchester.

[Pidesco]

This is old news. The bookies always stop taking bets a couple of hours before the draw. Also, lucky guess seems to be the correct interpretation. Besides, it would be hard to rig a live televised draw, with hundreds of people present. You'd have to heat the balls up or something.

[Tigranes]

I saw both the two-hour call and the actual draw. Firstly, of significance is that the online prediction got the order of the draw right as well as the fixtures; otherwise this would be a no-brainer. Secondly, if you look, the guy just shimmies a bit with 8 balls in a shallow cup and draws them out. It certainly wouldn't be difficult to freeze one ball and heat another, then you would be able to at least separate two teams.

 

Anyway, it's one of those things where we will never know. There are a lot of things to be fixed in football, such as bad refereeing or violent/dirty play, before we worry about what is uncheckable, unfortunately.

[Guest The Architect]

This is old news.

 

I know, but it was new news to me today, though.

 

The bookies always stop taking bets a couple of hours before the draw.

 

First I heard of it. The general consensus of that thread at least, is that it was unusual for the bookies to stop taking bets on the draw that early.

 

Also, lucky guess seems to be the correct interpretation. Besides, it would be hard to rig a live televised draw, with hundreds of people present. You'd have to heat the balls up or something.

 

It'd be fixable with two sets of hot/cold/sticky/rough balls.

 

But it probably was just a coincidence.

 

Can't help but wonder when you hear something like this, though.

 

Agreed, Tigranes.

Edited April 9, 2008 by The Architect

[mkreku]

I'd call it the "1000 monkeys" syndrome. I bet a thousand people put up their predictions and one of them got it right and that's all there is to it.