Sports law professor Marjan Olfers and criminology professor Toine Spapens will lead the project, which will last three months, the paper said.

Sports minister Edith Schippers decided last summer to set up the investigation, following on from a hotline she had set up for athletes to report bribes.

The researchers will talk to athletes, officials, sports associations and gambling bodies in an effort to find out if the problem exists or is widespread in the Netherlands.

Real chance

Last June, Labour MP Jeroen Recourt told the NRC there is a ‘very real chance’ that Dutch football is embroiled in major match fixing. The MP said tips point to corruption centering on the Jupiler League (first division).

Recourt claimed to have being given ‘multiple’ tips about match fixing in the Netherlands but declined to give further information.

In 2010, European football body Uefa said it had not found any evidence of match fixing in the Dutch first division, following reports two matches were under investigation.
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Holland

The 1998 European champions breezed through their qualifying campaign, winning nine and drawing one of their 10 fixtures to finish three points clear of Sweden at the summit.

However, it pays to note that their group contained the likes of San Marino and Moldova, making it difficult to assess the true condition of Bert van Marwijk’s side.

Their run to the 2010 World Cup final should be considered a triumph, even if their aggressive tactics were often criticised, as prior to that they had earned a reputation for freezing in the latter stages of major tournaments – as three semi-final defeats from their last five international competitions will testify.

The squad still contains the similar names we saw reach the final in South Africa, with the likes of Arjen Robben, Nigel de Jong and veteran Mark van Bommel all poised to pull on the famous orange shirt once more.

They have a solid, experienced and talented spine, with goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg well shielded by defenders Johnny Heitinga and Joris Mathijsen.

De Jong and van Bommel then provide further protection in midfield, allowing the likes of Robben, Wesley Snejider and Rafael van der Vaart time and space to feed the strikers.

And it is up front where Holland’s hopes rest. They smashed home 37 goals in their qualifying games with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar top-scoring with 12 (Huntelaar 20/1 – Euro 2012 top scorer), while Dirk Kuyt and Robin van Persie scored six each.

Their key man is undoubtedly van Persie. The 28-year-old enjoyed a memorable season in the Premier League with Arsenal, scoring 37 goals in all competitions and picking up the English PFA Player of the Year Award.

Van Persie is currently priced as the 10/1 second favourite to be top scorer at the tournament, with a van Persie/Holland double priced at a generous 20/1.

If he can transfer his form from the Emirates Stadium to eastern Europe, then the Oranje will take some stopping. However, you should also remember that the draw made in December was not particularly kind to van Persie and co, with Germany, Portugal and Denmark placed alongside them in Group B.

Their opening clash with Denmark on June 9 (Holland 8/13, draw 12/5, Denmark 4/1) should give them the chance to get early points on the board, with the Danes widely tipped to take the wooden spoon.

Given Germany’s impressive record at major tournaments it isn’t surprising that they and Holland are evens to qualify together from the group, even with the presence of Portugal providing a significant stumbling block.

If they can escape their group though then the potential quarter-final draw has been kind.

Group A is generally seen as the weakest of the four and van Marwijk will not be afraid of taking on Poland, Russia, Greece or the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals, which would then leave them just 90 minutes away from a second consecutive tournament final.

With pre-tournament odds of 11/4 it is clear that once again Holland go into a major tournament heavily fancied to do well. Their talent has never been in question but their temperament has, with the accusation often being that they are a team of individuals rather than a force greater than the sum of their parts.

With holders and 5/2 favourites Spain travelling without key defender Carles Puyol and possibly striker David Villa, the door is ajar for another side to play their way into contention.

If the Dutch can safely negotiate an admittedly difficult group then there is no reason why they cannot reach the latter stages (Holland 11/4 to reach the final), with van Marwijk’s greatest challenge ensuring they remain a collective unit.

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Spain

Torres and his Euro 2008-winning team-mates have been gearing themselves up before their matches by listening to Kasabian’s debut album which blares out in the dressing room right up until the players emerge for the national anthems.

And Liverpool star Torres is hoping to catch the band in action after the World Cup, hopefully with a winner’s medal in his pocket following Sunday’s final clash against Holland at Soccer City, Johannesburg.

He told The Sun: “Club Foot has got us to the final, so I would like to give a big thanks to Kasabian.

“Of course we will be playing it before the final against Holland on Sunday.

“So if the band are sitting watching the game then they will know that at about 7.20pm we will be getting pumped up to their most classic track.

“If we win the World Cup I would like to present them with a Spain shirt signed by all of us lads because their music has been a big inspiration to us in the dressing room.

“We will all come to watch them.”

Torres is sweating on his place in Spain’s XI for the game against the Dutch after finding himself on the bench for the semi-final win over Germany on Wednesday night.

Spain boss Vicente del Bosque had claimed Torres would start in midweek but he sprang a surprise and is now keeping his cards close to his chest over Sunday’s selection (Torres 7/1 – Fifa Man of the Match).

The wily 59-year-old, who scored one goal for Spain during 18 appearances between 1975 and 1980, said: “I don’t know if he [Torres] will be in the line-up.”

Del Bosque added: “It was a difficult choice. Torres has been helping us all along. His work is important even if it is not noticed. He is good at occupying the centre-backs.

“I didn’t talk to him before I announced the line-up (against Germany). But he is a very important part of the team. He is one of the key members of the squad and a lovely guy.”

Key Spain defender Carles Puyol, 32, who scored the winner against Germany in the semi-finals, says he will decide on his international future after the final.

Spain have won all of their knockout games 1-0 at the World Cup – against Portugal, Paraguay and Germany – and they can be backed at 9/2 to beat Holland by the same scoreline.

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Bert van Marwijk has played down fears Arjen Robben is an injury concern ahead of Holland’s World Cup opener against Denmark in Johannesburg on June 14.

The Bayern Munich flyer missed the 4-1 international friendly rout over Ghana in Rotterdam on Tuesday because of a slight hip problem and van Marwijk said there was little point in risking him.

He said: “Arjen has a little bit of a problem with his hip. It is not serious, but in the run-up to the World Cup we want as little risk as possible.”

Robben’s replacement, Dirk Kuyt of Liverpool, opened the scoring in a one-sided international friendly win which extended Holland’s unbeaten run to 18 matches.

Second-half efforts from Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie saw the hosts ease to a comfortable win and the Dutch are now overwhelming 1/7 ante-post favourites with totesport.com to qualify from Group E.

Holland, on paper at least, boast a formidable-looking attack including the likes of van der Vaart, Sneijder, van Persie and Robben.

Arsenal talisman van Persie has come in for praise from his team-mates off the back of his goals against Mexico last week and is excited at the prospect of being his country’s figurehead.

“I heard their opinions and it pleases me that we appreciate each other’s qualities,” said van Persie.

The Emirates Stadium favourite could attract some interest at 16/1 with totesport.com to finish the international extravaganza as World Cup 2010 Top Goalscorer given that van Marwijk’s men appear to have been handed a favourable group including Denmark, Cameroon and Japan.

However, the 26-year-old says the team is more important than personal plaudits and is convinced Holland can go far in South Africa.

He added: “It is a party to play with them. They all are good players who are creative and think offensive.”

The former Feyenoord star was a doubt for the World Cup because of a serious ankle injury he sustained playing for Holland in a friendly against Italy last November.

However, he bounced back towards the end of the domestic season and will arrive in fresh to spearhead the Dutch.

Holland can be backed at 13/2 to end the tournament as the Top European Team and their price to win the World Cup outright has firmed up at 10/1.

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