By Andrew Warshaw
June 26 – FIFA’s new head of security Ralf Mutschke admits that match-fixing can never be totally eliminated but says FIFA will never give up the fight to weed out the criminals as the issue continues to seriously undermine the sport both in Europe and globally.
Last week FIFA extended worldwide a series of sanctions meted out to 13 individuals from South Korea and Croatia, while Italy has been rocked by one of the worst scandals in its history with prominent clubs and players being hit with a raft of punishments.
Less than a month into his new role having taken over from Chris Eaton who joined the Qatar-based International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), Mutschke (pictured above) said: “I’d like such punishments to be given out more frequently, as long as there is sufficient evidence to do so.
“FIFA has to send out a signal to show that these matters will not be overlooked and that they will be forcefully dealt with.
“Our objective is long-term success in order to make the sport cleaner.
“It’s not possible to defeat criminal activity altogether and match-fixing is clearly such an activity.
“I hope we can minimise the problem and restrict it.
“But we won’t be able to completely eliminate the problem.”
This week, Mutschke is flying to Brazil for his first visit to the 2014 World Cup hosts hoping to get rid of vested interests and pull together the various factions into a properly orchestrated security project.
“I’ll meet our partners over there in order to establish an integrated security plan together,” he told fifa.com.
“A lot of progress has already been made on that front and we need to put it into practice.
“But it’s difficult because there are so many organisations responsible for security in Brazil.
“The national Government, the host cities and regions, the Local Organising Committee (LOC), a special security taskforce (SESGE), the various state security authorities, the military and even private security firms are involved and we need to coordinate them all.”
Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1734870111labto1734870111ofdlr1734870111owedi1734870111sni@w1734870111ahsra1734870111w.wer1734870111dna1734870111
Related stories
March 2012: Former Interpol director Ralf Mutschke named as FIFA’s director of security