Japan send mission to Spain to probe Aguirre allegations

TOKYO - The Japan Football Association has sent a delegation to Spain to conduct a probe into the match-fixing scandal that has embroiled national team coach Javier Aguirre.

The JFA have confirmed that Aguirre will remain in charge for the next month's Asian Cup in Australia despite being one of 41 people accused by Spain's anti-corruption prosecutors of rigging a match in 2011.

Aguirre has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Frustration about the lack of clarity over the case and its possible implications for Aguirre, however, have moved JFA President Kuniya Daini to act. "I have sent (a mission) to Spain and from now on we will have information coming in," he told Kyodo news agency in Kobe.

Spanish prosecutors filed the case in a Valencia court on Monday following a probe into Real Zaragoza's 2-1 win at Levante on the final day of the 2010-11 campaign.

The victory ensured Zaragoza, coached by Mexican Aguirre at the time, avoided relegation. The prosecutor alleges the Levante players were paid a total of 965,000 euros to deliberately lose the game.