By Andrew Warshaw
February 1 – The global crackdown on match fixing has achieved one of its biggest coups to date after the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) suspended a staggering 67 players, including the core of its national team, following a long-standing investigation.
The ruling follows a ZIFA probe that led to a number of players admitting that they accepted money from an Asian betting syndicate to lose exhibition games on Far East trips from 2007-2009.
The money is reported to have been handed out by agents of notorious Singaporean criminal Wilson Raj Perumal, jailed for two years in Finland last summer for a string of match fixing offences.
In a statement Monday, ZIFA chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze said the implicated players would not be selected again unless they are cleared by the federation’s ethics committee.
Former Zimbabwe captain Method Mwanjali (pictured) was one of those who admitted taking money, while the list of current squad members suspended pending the Ethics Committee hearing includes Nyasha Mushekwi, Khama Billiat and Ovidy Karuru.
The decision was made during an emergency board meeting to review Zimbabwe’s failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, currently taking place in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Last September, ZIFA suspended three of its board members.
The match fixing scam is understood to have taken place during friendly games staged in Vietnam, Thailand, Syria and Malaysia over a two-year period.
Former Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya (pictured), who reportedly arranged them, has since lost her job.
“There were 80 players in all who took part in the games and we are saying all those players who were involved in five games or more should have nothing to do with the national team until they are cleared,” Mashingaidze said.
“We can’t have players in the national team with issues to do with match fixing.”
“The players have not been banned yet, but we just want to let justice take its course.
“For now, they are not eligible for selection in any national duty commitments.
“The sentiment in Zimbabwe was that the team was failing to qualify for major tournaments since we were using players who had been tainted by this scandal.”
FIFA President Sepp Blatter warned during a visit to Harare last year that players and officials found guilty in the ongoing probe would face life bans.
Ironically, the suspensions are set to affect Zimbabwe’s bid to qualify for the next Africa Cup of Nations in 2013, with qualification matches starting this month.
Zimbabwe faces Burundi on February 29.
The Zimbabwe suspensions coincide with the start of FIFA’s much lauded information gathering initiative run by its head of security Chris Eaton, offering amnesties and rewards for important incriminatory information.
Eaton’s office has opened a multilingual hotline and website that also offers rehabilitation to anyone reporting credible match fixing evidence.
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July 2011: Singaporean jailed over Finland match fixing scandal