FIFA: Safety of match-fixing players in jeopardy
Reuters - Tuesday 10 January 2012, 14:05
Football's governing body FIFA is
concerned for the safety of players who are approached by
match-fixers, warning that they could pay the "ultimate price"
for involvement, security chief Chris Eaton said Tuesday.
Eaton added that inadequate and incoherent international
legislation was hampering the fight against match-fixers.
With FIFA due to open a hot line for whistleblowers in
February and offer a temporary amnesty for players who own up to
match-fixing but come forward with evidence, Eaton said 2012
would be a fundamental year.
High-profile cases have hit Turkey and Italy while FIFA is
still trying to contact the referee of last year's friendly
between Nigeria and Argentina, believing it could have been
manipulated.
In South Korea, nearly 50 players were arrested last year in
connection with the worst scandal to hit the 28-year-old league,
prompting government threats of a K-League shutdown.
The former coach of South Korean club Sangmu Phoenix was
found dead in October in an apparent suicide, three months after
being charged as part of the probe.
"We are very concerned about the safety of players [and]
officials," Eaton told reporters. "There is anecdotal evidence
that some players have been killed."
"We have evidence of players in South Korea committing
suicide because of the shame of match fixing. There are players
who pay the ultimate price for resisting or for the shame of
match-fixing.
"That's why its incumbent on FIFA and global society to
limit access of criminals to it. We certainly have information
in some parts of the world... of threats to players who have come
forward.
"Most are indicating they are under some form of threat;
often these are players are under the control of a senior
player, or captain, or technical coach, and these are the people
we need to support."
ITALIAN EXAMPLE
However, Eaton said he did not envisage any danger to
Italian second division defender Simone Farina who has been
paraded as an example by FIFA after refusing a 200,000-euro
offer to fix an Italian Cup match between Cesena and
his club Gubbio in November.
"He displayed model behaviour for young players, he resisted
significant money to fix what many players would consider an
unimportant fixture," said Eaton, adding that Farina's high
profile would protect him from danger.
Eaton said a co-ordinated approach among governments was
needed, pointing out that Singapore national Wilson Raj Perumal
had received only a two-year prison sentence in Finland for a
match-fixing scandal.
Perumal paid players up to 20,000 euros per match and
received up to 50,000 euros, in addition to some of the betting
profits, each time the results of the Rovaniemi team were fixed.
"Wilson Perumal got the maximum penalty under inadequate
legislation of two years," said Eaton.
"Had he been caught in Australia, which has very strong
match-fixing legislation, he would have got 10 years. This needs
to be addressed."
He said governments should be concerned about the threat of
match-fixing.
"Match-fixing is all about stealing money, it destroys the
lives and careers of many people. Governments should be
interested, because the amount of money is truly staggering.
"What are those criminal organisations doing? They are
spending it on other criminal activities, they use money for
power and power escalation.
"Unfortunately, because of the very nature, they can very
quickly accumulate a large amount of money."
Eaton said he still wanted to meet Niger referee Ibrahim
Chaibou who awarded two controversial penalties in the
Nigeria-Argentina match last June.
"He's high-profile, his name has been suggested in a lot of
matches, I have tried to meet him several times, he has
resisted," said Eaton.