Eldense's Cheikh Saad Says 4 Players Involved in Fixing 12-0 Barcelona B Defeat

Cheikh Saad of third-tier Spanish side Eldense has said four of his team-mates were involved in fixing their 12-0 defeat to Barcelona B on Saturday.

The striker told Jordi Baste of Catalan radio station RAC-1 (h/t AS' Juan Jimenez), "I know who they are but I cannot say at the moment. Four players are involved."

According to Saad, one of his team-mates was informed by an unnamed source prior to the match that it was fixed and asked if he wished to play.

Saad continued:

"

They did not bother to ask me because they knew what the answer would be. I’d have withdrawn from the team. Half an hour before the game I was in the team and then I wasn’t. 

After the game I got on the team bus and my teammates told me: 'You should know that there are players down there [in the dressing room] who threw the match.' I went back down to the dressing room and there was a row going on. There were almost punches thrown.

"

The 26-year-old also made clear that no Barca B players were involved "in any way," and revealed he had been threatened since going public with the match-fixing allegations.

Per Jimenez, Eldense—who were relegated as a result of the record-equalling defeat—notably did not make a single substitution during the course of the match, for which Saad claimed responsibility as he told those on the bench they "should refuse to go on" if they did not wish to be involved.

The club, who have cut ties with an Italian investor group in the wake of the match, initially announced on Sunday they will "cease all sporting activity" despite still having six matches yet to play in Spain's Segunda Division B, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN FC).

Barcelona's academy shared footage of the one-sided win on Twitter:

As the video shows, one Eldense player had to be comforted by the Barcelona players at the end of the match.

The defeat matched Extremadura's 12-0 win over Portuense in 1993, which is the highest scoreline recorded in the division.

According to Jimenez, Eldense's chairman, David Aguilar, told RAC-1 he would be following up with the authorities regarding a potential criminal investigation as he learns more details "every minute."