By Andrew Warshaw
April 9 – The match-fixing scandal that has rocked South African football because it directly involves the national team, is to be investigated by an three-man independent team – backed by FIFA.
The South African Football Association’s national executive committee has unanimously endorsed and approved the agreement to appoint a judicial inquiry into the scandal that took place on the eve of the 2010 World Cup.
No past or present officials directly involved in football will be part of the commission which is likely to include Michael Garcia, FIFA’s corruption-busting ethics investigator.
“This long-standing open case is harming South African football,” said FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke. “It is vital this matter is concluded soon, with the culprits sanctioned under the zero tolerance policy.”
After a lengthy probe into the activities of the notorious and currently jailed Singapore criminal Wilson Raj Perumal and his Football 4U organisation, FIFA found in a 500-page report that 2010 World Cup warm-ups against Bulgaria, Thailand, Colombia and Guatemala were all fixed, leading to the brief suspension of SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani and four other top officials.
Nematandani was later reinstated and was present at a meeting last week between Valcke and South Africa Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula.
FIFA said the mandate of the judicial committee “will be limited to matters related to the case of irregularities related to friendly matches of the SAFA in the build-up to the 2010 World Cup.”