Argentina's match fixing scandal

One of the World Cup's oldest mysteries finally may be solved after claims were made this week of a sinister plot involving mass corruption, government interference and torture.

Argentina's 1978 triumph against Peru long has been suspected of involving dirty tricks by the Argentinean political dictatorship led by Jorge Videla that held power at that time. For more than 30 years questions have been asked about the controversial 6-0 win that clinched Argentina's place in the final, where they beat the Netherlands 3-1.

This week former Peruvian senator Genaro Ledesma said a deal was struck between Peru's then-president Francisco Bermudez and Videla, whereby Argentina would be allowed to win the game by at least the four-goal margin it needed to avoid elimination.

In return, Videla's regime agreed to receive and imprison 13 Peruvian political dissidents who were vocally opposed to Bermudez and his methods. “Videla needed to win the World Cup to cleanse Argentina's bad image around the world,” Ledesma, 80, told a Buenos Aires court. “So he only accepted the group if Peru allowed the Argentina national team to triumph.”

After Argentina won with ridiculous ease, suspicions immediately were raised. Conspiracy theories ranged from the Peru goalkeeper having been bribed to suggestions that a large shipment of grain had been sent between the two countries as payment for a fixed result.

Ledesma's accusations raise the possibility of a far more nefarious reality: It is alleged that the 13 dissidents were beaten and tortured by their captors. Even 34 years later, investigators still are trying to get to the bottom of the Condor Plan, an agreement between 1970s South American dictators whereby political opponents could be repressed by sending them to cooperating nations.

“With what I know now, I can't say I am proud of my victory,” said Leopoldo Luque, an Argentinean striker in 1978. “But I didn't realize, most of us didn't. We just played football.”