Goran Šukalo

Club career

He moved to Greuther Fürth in June 2013 for free. He moved to 1860 Munich on 1 February 2016. His contract was mutually terminated on 3 February 2017.

International career

He played 34 matches for the Slovenia national football team between 2002 and 2011.

Controversies

In late April 2011, it was revealed by the Slovenian media that Maribor police department has been, for the past six months, investigating an illegal betting organization and six individuals, four of which (Kosta Turner, Vasja Turner, Ivan Vinko and Zvonko Hajšek) were from the Maribor area and had already been taken into custody. The police has also revealed that two other collaborators are still at large and that one of those is Goran Šukalo (the other is former Serbian footballer Saša Simić), who allegedly invested over 1,9 million euros in the organization, in 2011, the majority of which he collected from other professional players. Šukalo categorically denied his involvement in the matter, however, it was revealed by the media and the police that investigators had been tapping the phones of the four persons currently in custody and has recorded a conversation between Šukalo and the leader of the illegal organization [Kosta Turner] when Šukalo revealed that another football player, Nastja Čeh, is still owing him 73 [thousand] euros and is avoiding payment. According to the media the police does not have the evidence that Šukalo was involved in match fixing, however, they do have the evidence that he was collecting and investing money in the organization because of which he could face between one and eight years in prison. It is still unclear, though, if Šukalo is also being investigated by the German police who recently made a search of his house in Germany, where he currently lives. In any case, it is strictly forbbiden by the UEFA, the Football Association of Slovenia and the German Football Association for any player to gamble, let alone to invest in illegal bookies. On 11 May 2011, Šukalo had his first preliminary hearing in Maribor district court where he denied his implications and pleaded not guilty. From the criminal charges, written on 49 pages, it is clear that Šukalo was betting with Kosta Turner frequently and that he has made a total of just under 1.7 million euros of bets in the illegal betting organization (54,850 of which were placed on 28 March alone).

In January 2012 the general prosecutor on the District Court in Maribor made an indictment of six individuals, written on 30 pages, one of them being Šukalo. Šukalo is said to be the leader of the German part of the illegal betting organization from Maribor and that he was recruiting new members among other football players and friends from Germany. The organization allegedly accepted a total of 43 million euros worth of bets in two years with 5,5 million euros coming from Šukalo, which he placed in his name for him and his customers. Once again Šukalo publicly denied his implications and stated that he has nothing to do with the organization.

On 18 April 2013, the District Court in Maribor announced its decision on the matter and Šukalo was acquitted of all charges. Although Šukalo admitted gambling on football, he was found not guilty in participating in the illegal betting organization. The presecutor Bojana Podgorelec, which has demanded one year and eight months prison sentence for Šukalo, announced that the prosecution will appeal the court's decision. Kosta Turner, Vasja Turner, Ivan Vinko pleaded guilty and received between three and two and a half years in prison, while Zvonko Hajšek was found guilty and received a sentence of two years in prison. Šukalo's advocate, Franci Matoz, was pleased with the verdict, however, he did state how the Court and the Prosecution managed to "destroy his client's career".