Pawel Cibicki, with a past in, among others, Malmö, Elfsborg and English Leeds, talks about his gambling addiction, which was a factor in what later led to the conviction.
- I started playing a little bit, for 10-20 kroner.
But the more I played, the bigger the sums were in the end.
In the end, I just lost it.
I had no respect for money anymore.
It turned out to be large sums in the end, he says and continues:
- When I earned the most, when I played in England, I had around 200,000 kroner a month.
Sometimes I could waste it in 4-5 days.
Convicted in the Court of Appeal
In 2019, Cibicki, who then played in Elfsborg, received a yellow card in an Allsvenskan match.
That card caused him to later be suspected of match-fixing-related crimes.
He was acquitted in the district court but convicted in the court of appeal.
According to the prosecutor's side, he took a yellow card intentionally as a thank you for being allowed to borrow 300,000 kroner from two co-accused match-fixers.
Cibicki denied any crime, and claimed that the 300,000 kroner was a legitimate loan, as he himself was in debt due to a serious gambling addiction.
"A big problem"
Cibicki talks about why he now chooses to open up.
- I think it is a big problem.
It gets bigger and bigger day by day.
If you sit and watch TV, when commercials come on.
What is coming up?
- Quite honestly, I hope more people dare to come forward.
It's a shame, yes.
But if you can breast it, you can get out of it.
Pawel Cibicki has been suspended by the Swedish Football Association from all sports in Sweden for four years.
He is currently also banned worldwide, following a decision by the International Football Association (FIFA).
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Pawel Cibicki talks about gambling addiction