Constant Vanden Stock Stadium Bribery Scandal
Constant Vanden Stock, president of Belgian football club Anderlecht, paid Spanish referee Emilio Guruceta 1.2 million Belgian francs before the second leg of a UEFA Cup semifinal in April 1984.
The payoff secured a 3–0 victory over Nottingham Forest on the night and a 3–2 aggregate triumph that pushed Anderlecht into the final, sealing one of the most severe corruption cases in the history of European tournaments, in this case the UEFA Cup, the predecessor of today’s Europa League.
Operating through criminal intermediaries Jean Elst and an unnamed associate, Stock negotiated the financial arrangement in Spain to overturn a 2–0 first-leg deficit from England.
Referee Guruceta awarded a penalty kick in the second half when Nottingham Forest defender Kenny Swain was nowhere near the opposing player who fell inside the area.
Kenny was a mile from the guy he was supposed to have scythed down,
defender Paul Hart said.
Nottingham Forest striker Garry Birtles called the decision the most embarrassing he had ever witnessed in football.
Even after the disputed penalty, Nottingham Forest fought back when Paul Hart scored from a header following a corner kick in stoppage time, which would have sent the English club through on the away goals rule.
Referee Guruceta disallowed the goal, ignoring protests and leaving manager Brian Clough furious.
Biographer Pat Murphy noted that Clough likely wanted to twist the official’s neck instead of shaking his hand.
René Van Aaken Exposed the Bribery Plot in 1997
The bribery plot remained hidden until 1997, when criminal René Van Aaken stole the documents detailing the semifinal scandal and used them to extort Anderlecht.
Anderlecht initially paid to keep the documents confidential before cutting off the payments, prompting Van Aaken to hand the evidence over to the Belgian Football Association in 1992, which then passed it to UEFA.
It took more than four years before the fraud came to light and sanctions were issued.
Anderlecht was suspended from European competitions for one year, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban upon appeal, and no exclusion took place.
Anderlecht ultimately missed out on winning the 1984 UEFA Cup trophy anyway, losing the final to Tottenham Hotspur.
Referee Guruceta and the Continuing Legacy in Spain
Despite his role in the scandal, Spanish football continues to honor the official by awarding the Trofeo Guruceta annually to the best referee in La Liga.
After the man who sent the money, a club named its stadium, and in the name of the man who took the money, they hand out an award in another country,
Hart said.
The Constant Vanden Stock Stadium retained the name from 1983 until 2019, when commercial reasons led the club to rename the venue Lotto Park.
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