June 3- A investigative report by FIFA has found that at least five international friendlies in South Africa just before the 2010 World Cup were fixed, according to the New York Times.
The report, obtained by the paper in the buildup to the Brazil tournament, has raised obvious immediate concerns about what might happen there and illustrates the global scale of a problem that has become a number one priority for football’s corruption busters.
One fixed match, according to the report, was South Africa’s 5-0 win over Guatemala, in which referee Ibrahim Chaibou was apparently paid to manipulate the outcome. Chaibou awarded two very questionable penalty kicks, one each to both teams.
The newspaper obtained a copy of the 44-page internal report in which it was stated: “Were the listed matches fixed? On the balance of probabilities, yes.”
Chaibou, who has since retired, was apparently chosen for the match by the Singapore company – Football 4U International – run by the notorious match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal. The New York Times article quoted the FIFA report as stating, “we can conclude that this match was indeed manipulated for betting fraud purposes”.
The South African FA reportedly struck deals with the firm for all five matches, contracts that Fifa’s report dubbed “so very rudimentary as to be commercially laughable” and South African officials were “easily duped or extremely foolish” .
The findings of the investigation “inevitably leads to the conclusion” that at least some federation employees “were complicit in a criminal conspiracy to manipulate these matches,” the report said.
In all, the fixers reportedly manipulated “at least five matches and possibly more” and targeted up to 15 altogether, fuelling concerns over the spate of friendlies for this year’s World Cup being played this week around the globe.
FIFA’s head of security, Ralf Mutschke, was quoted as saying: “We are not expecting fixers to be traveling to Brazil and knocking on the hotel door of players or referees, but I know there will have been approaches to players and referees.”