Former France international midfielder Daniel Bravo said on Monday that he had been witness to an arranged match in the Italian Serie A when he played for Parma in the 1996-7 season.

“I never arranged a match, I can’t say that, but I’ve been involved,” Bravo said in an interview broadcast on the Yahoo! Sport website.

“The last important match for Parma, we could play for the title, but in fact we couldn’t win.

“So we chose a draw at half-time. By common agreement.” 

Bravo, who also played for Nice, Monaco and PSG, added: “We didn’t understand. We said: ’You’re crazy, we can win’. And the others replied: ’We’re in Italy here, drop it’.” 

Parma finished second in the 1996-7 season, two points behind champions Juventus. The two teams drew 1-1 in the third-last game of the season, Parma going on to win their final two matches.