For several months now, Romanian basketball has been simmering in great secrecy! A wide-ranging FIBA inquiry, supplemented by FRB investigations, is looking into a potential match-fixing network in Romania’s top league. Former CSM Galati American player Shakem Johnson talks to GSP about his bizarre experience last season with the Danube club
The phone rings. “You see there’s a big disturbance in basketball! FIBA is on the line with match-fixing betting in Romania’s premier league”. The information takes shape after a few checks.
And the first clues in the international investigation point to CSM Galati, the club funded by local public authorities. Reported budget for 2023: around €6 million for 11 departments, including men’s basketball.
“I figured it wasn’t an investigation for stealing waffles”
Florin Nini is the coach of the Danube team.
“Right after the last match last season, against Tg. Jiu, Kosztelnik showed up with some FIBA commissioners and asked me to bring Shakem Johnson immediately. I figured someone wouldn’t come to such an inquiry because a waffle had been stolen. I had a hunch. No one else had access. I understand they asked him for his cell phone and had a more extensive conversation. But I can’t make any clear statements until there is an official conclusion,” the technician told GSP.
But local sources describe the scene more abruptly: “They picked Johnson up directly from the dressing room, took his phone and put him in a room for questioning. They wanted to search on the spot, including the conversations on his device, because of suspicions at FIBA level”.
I wanted Johnson out immediately, but it’s not that simple. Until there’s something official, you can’t make any move, because the man sues you and wins
Florin Nini, CSM Galati coach
“I will give details when I receive FIBA’s acceptance”
The first character invoked by Nini is Emil Kosztelnik, the FRB Integrity Officer, who acts under the FIBA umbrella. “I cannot give information. I don’t know where you got it from. When I get FIBA’s acceptance, I will come back with the details. There are rules I have to respect,” says the Romanian official.
The second name is Shakem Johnson, 26, an American basketball player recruited by CSM Galați before last season after an experience in England with Surrey Scorchers.
Raised in the NCAA with the Tennessee State Tigers, in the North American university league, Johnson arrived in Romania on his second European experience, and after the championship played here he went to the Greek secondary league, with Papagou BC.
“He had some unthinkable performances”
Did Johnson bet on Romanian games?
“I don’t know. I’ve asked other guys the same question, because I don’t know. I never played, not even the lottery. And I really beg you not to misunderstand me. If it were up to me, I would outlaw them, because they are the most harmful factor in sport today”, says Florin Nini.
He adds: “Johnson has had some oscillating performances. He got off to a flying start, with seven or eight sensational matches, and then fizzled out. His agent called me and said he wanted to go to Greece. “Hey, wait a minute. If he fits our style, let him stay until the end of the championship. We’re not making a market here! Whoever wants him, give him more money next year. It’s your problem if you brought him to me as a cheap player, with a salary of 2,000 euros, and then suddenly an offer from somewhere else for 5,000-6,000 euros comes along.””
We only have two 3,000 euro salaries. The average is around 2,200 euro per month. We’re not swimming in money
Florin Nini, CSM Galati basketball coach
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Nini admits that “Johnson had some unthinkable developments, but I put them down to poor developments. By the time of the interview, I didn’t even want to think about other things. He was probably also bruised in his own ego when he saw that we wouldn’t let him go, while in Greece a contract three times as big was waiting for him.”
Johnson: “He promised me 2,000 euros to win or lose, there were several options”
Last season, CSM Galati had no less than 7 Americans in the squad: Tate, Swopshire, Ruffin, Nelson, Planutius, Coleman and Johnson.
They all disappeared from the Danube team for the current championship, when the club only brought in two other overseas players, Kuxhausen and Morgan, plus a Swede (Lecesne), an Estonian (Ilves) and two Serbs (Majstorovic, Kovacevic).
From Youngstown, Ohio, on America’s west coast, Johnson reluctantly agreed to chat with GSP, by phone call and whatsapp. And the following behind-the-scenes dialog about Romanian basketball resulted:
– Hi, Shakem! Can you please tell me about which games in the Romanian championship you were asked about in the FIBA survey?
– They asked me about several games where they thought I didn’t play well.
– But you had concrete proposals to fix certain games?
– Yes. I wouldn’t want to give names or details.
– Was it someone from the club, the federation?
– Someone who recommended himself as an agent.
– What was the concrete proposal and how did you react?
– I was shocked. It was about money, but I was skeptical. He promised me 2,000 euros either to win or to lose. There were several options. I told him I wasn’t interested.
– Did he insist? Can you remember his name or his face, though?
– Stefan! But I don’t know what he looks like because we only spoke on the phone. He approached me and started talking to me, introducing himself as an agent, and then at some point he talked to me about these proposals to fix championship matches.
“They asked me about the match in Craiova in the regular season”
The discussion then flows to specific moments in the investigation:
– You say you refused, but you had the feeling afterwards that you were playing in some suspicious games, perhaps because of other players?
– Yes! There was a discussion.
– Can you give me an example?
– Craiova, the second game of the regular season. But I played a bit because I was injured. I don’t know exactly if it was fixed, but the people in the investigation told me there were alerts on that game. And that it was suspicious because of our play. I knew nothing until then.
– You mean the FIBA investigation team?
– Uh, yeah. Uh-huh. They asked me about several games in which I didn’t play well.
The game Johnson is referring to, with the focus from the FIBA investigation, is SCMU Craiova – CSM Galati 80-68 on March 9, 2024. It’s the game in which Shakem played the least minutes, 6 minutes, of all his appearances for Galați: 31 games, 393 points (average 12.7/game).
On the Olten’s bench was a Cypriot, Panayiotis Yiannaras, now at Paralimni, in his native country. And the squad included a group of 6 foreigners from the USA, Slovenia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Ukraine.
At the end of the season, Craiova and Galațiul finished 11th and 12th in the league.
“One person in the team informed me about everything”. Who?
Moving on to Shakem Johnson:
– Back to that Stefan who you say approached you about matchmaking. About how long were you in contact?
– About a couple months. We also talked on whatsapp.
– You kept the conversations?
– Not anymore. I switched cell phones, too. The phone was with the investigators for a while. They gave it back. But the chats were erased, gone when I logged on a new phone.
– You are the only one FIBA questioned?
– Uh, no. The whole team.
– Are you sure about that?
– Are you sure?
– When those proposals were made to you, did you notify anyone in the club management?
– No, I didn’t! I rejected the proposal, I deleted all contact with the man, I didn’t even think about it.
– Now, do you have the feeling in your heart that, during your time in Romania, you were on the pitch in fixed matches?
– Yes!
– Have you personally bet on any Romanian matches?
– Never! I am not passionate about this subject.
And, in the course of the dialog, an elliptical phrase: “One person in the team informed me about everything”. “About everything” refers to underground betting issues. But Johnson declined to go into further detail. So who in the club would have informed Johnson?
This was an investigation made by GSP. Source
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