KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: The ongoing criminal investigation into financial fraud in Belgian football has continued with raids on the offices of Standard Liege and the homes of its president Bruno Venazi and top agent Christophe Henrotay.

This is far from the first time that the club has been enveloped in scandal. In the early 1980s players and officials were banned after a match-fixing inquiry.

Henrotay, the agent among others of Real Madrid goallkeeper Thibaut Courtois, had been arrested and released under caution last September at his home in Monaco in an investigation led by Brussels judge Michel Claise.

He is the son of Roger Henrotay, a former Belgian international footballer who was also a player and then manager of the Liege Standard.

The federal prosecutors office said two raids had been carried out in the Liege area and that documents, computer files and mobile phones were seized.

Standard said the club and its president, Bruno Venanzi, would cooperate with the investigation and hoped the situation would be clarified soon.

The day after Henrotay’s arrest, Anderlecht’s former general manager Herman van Holsbeeck was also detained.

Police raided the offices of Anderlecht, Belgium’s record champions, and the national association last April.

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