* Macedonian club accused of rigging Champions League match
(recasts, changes dateline, adds byline)
By Goran Antevski
SKOPJE, March 26 (Reuters) - FK Pobeda president Aleksandar Zabrcanec has denied match-fixing allegations after UEFA charged the Macedonian club on Thursday with rigging a Champions League match with Armenian rivals FC Pyunik in July 2004.
"We have never been involved in any such affair," Zabrcanec told Reuters by telephone after European soccer's governing body charged him, the club and one of its players with match-fixing.
"You can win or lose, but that's sport and there was nothing controversial in our defeat to Pyunik," he said.
"We have been notified by the Macedonian Football Federation that UEFA has started a procedure and we will state our official position on the matter soon."
Pyunik, the winners of 11 Armenian league titles, won the first qualifying round tie 4-2 on aggregate.
UEFA said the first-leg in Macedonia, which Pyunik won 3-1, was the match under invesigation.
"The charge is based on reports received from the betting industry on irregular betting patterns and the declarations of several witnesses," UEFA said in a statement.
"The Control & Disciplinary Body will deal with the case on April 17."
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade; additional writing by Darren Ennis in Brussels, editing by Justin Palmer
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