adminLONDON. — At least five international friendlies played in the countdown to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, including Zimbabwe’s goalless draw against Japan in George, could have been rigged by match-fixers working through bribed referees.There were no allegations, however, in the Fifa report against any players, as has been the case in every instance of match-fixing in cricket, including the one rocking New Zealand lately.
The Fifa report called South African soccer officials “either easily duped or extremely foolish”. The Fifa report comes in the week The Sunday Times of London has also made serious allegations that about 30 leaders of African Football Associations could have been manipulated by former Fifa vice-president, Mohammad Bin Hammam, to coerce them to back the gulf state’s 2022 World Cup bid.
Football Association of Zambia president Kalusha Bwalya was allegedly paid US$50 000 while about 30 other African football leaders were handed various amounts of payments.
Four of Bafana Bafana’s World Cup friendlies are named in the report and one match feature African champions Nigeria.
Football4U, a shadowy company formed by serial international match-fixer Wilson Raj Peumal as a front for his activities, signed an agreement with the South African Football Association to provide them with referees for the friendly matches.
The referees were given strict instructions to ensure that the matches finished in a certain manner.
The Zimbabwe/Japan game ended goalless and the Warriors were roped into the match after the preferred opponents of the Japanese, Mozambique, pulled out at the last minute.
The Japanese Football Federation have insisted, since questions were posed over the match, that they handled everything above board and Zifa, in their Asiagate investigations, said there was nothing in that match, where former board member Benedict Moyo was the head of delegation, to warrant a red flag.
Moyo was one of the Zifa officials who investigated Asiagate.
The Fifa Confidential Report notes that most fixed bets are taken either on the outcome of the match or the aggregate of goals scored by both sides, and are placed mostly through unregulated markets.
In one of the rigged friendlies, South Africa beat Guatemala 5-0, through questionable penalties awarded by the referee, a native of Niger, who has denied the allegations.
“Were the listed matches fixed? On the balance of probabilities, yes,” the previously unpublicised FIFA report said, according to the newspaper.
In all, fixers manipulated “at least five matches and possibly more” in South Africa ahead of the 2010 World Cup and targeted up to 15 matches, including a US-Australia fixture, according to the Fifa report.
Such warm-up exhibitions for this year’s World Cup are being played this week.
A FIFA spokesman told the Times that a probe into activities around the 2010 World Cup was ongoing, but no punishments or bans have been imposed.
Steve Goddard, an Englishman who served as acting head of refereeing for the South African football association at the time, said he turned down a bribe offer from Football 4U International.
Meanwhile, according to the allegations contained in an investigative report published in the UK’s prime Sunday paper state that Kalusha and Bin Hammam exchanged emails over payment of money.
“As per our conversation, please Mr President if you could assist me with about 50 thousand Dollars for my Football association and personal expenditures.
“I will repay you in the near future, as the burden is little bit too hard for me at this moment,” Kalusha is alleged to have stated in part of his email to Bin Hammam in 2009.
However, The Sunday Times said there is no evidence the alleged loan was ever paid back and added that a further US$30 000 was wired to Kalusha’s personal account in 2011 after the FAZ president was said to be “a little thin on resources.”
Thirty current and former FA presidents in the CAF zone are alleged to have benefitted from a US$5 million slush fund to help Qatar win its eventually successful bid for the 2022 World Cup.
Questions have been raised since Qatar won its bid to host the 2022 finals on December 2, 2010 edging out the USA, South Korea, Japan and Australia.
The Gulf nations bid has been hit by controversy surrounding the staging of the finals in the scorching heat and poor working conditions for the migrant labour hired to build stadium’s and infrastructure.
The sell of alcohol, gender rights and the potential of Israels qualification , a country Qatar does not recognise, have all hit the Gulf states staging of the 2022 World Cup.
A number of other documents seen by The Sunday Times reveal that the Somali football association allegedly received US$100 000 in payments, while the Yemeni football association was allegedly paid just under US$10 000.
Bin Hammam, according to the newspaper, also paid US$1,6 million into bank accounts controlled by former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, US$450 000 of which was before the vote for the World Cup.
In total, around US$5 million from “secret slush funds” was paid out by Bin Hammam in “dozens” of payments. The Qatari allegedly invited the leaders of 25 African football associations to Kuala Lumpur “on an all-expenses-paid junket”, the Sunday Times said.
Cash advances worth US$200 000 were withdrawn to provide advances to members of the Confédération Africaine de Football, the newspaper said.
The paper said Bin Hammam declined to respond to correspondence and calls last week.
The Qatar World Cup organising committee did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by Al Arabiya News. FIFA directed enquiries to its independent Ethics Committee, which did not immediately respond.- Times of Zambia/Hindustan Times/New York Times/Sports Reporter
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