By Andrew Warshaw
July 2 – The convicted match-fixer at the centre of allegations surrounding Cameroon’s World Cup squad has denied he predicted the outcome of their match against Croatia which prompted international speculation of corruption at the tournament.
The German publication Der Spiegel claimed Wilson Raj Perumal had correctly forecast the result of the game – before kickoff. Cameroon lost all their Group A games, including a 4-0 defeat by Croatia in which midfielder Alex Song was sent off.
Perumal, a Singapore businessman who has already been jailed in Finland and is regarded as the mastermind behind a string of global match-fixing scandals, says he had simply made an “an informal assessment of the behaviour of the Cameroon team” after the game.
Apologising to the Cameroon Football Federation, which has launched its own investigation, for any inadvertent offence caused, he was quoted as saying: “Contrary to the ‘revelations’ published by the German weekly Der Spiegel that were picked up by news outlets worldwide, I did not predict the result of the Cameroon vs Croatia match played on June 18, 2014.
“The Facebook chat with the Der Spiegel journalist took place a few days after the match. At no time did I suggest I had any way of corroborating or substantiating what was meant to be an educated guess based on my extensive match-fixing experience.”
“At no time did I make reference to four goals being scored or to a red card being issued. At no time did I suggest that I had any way of corroborating or substantiating what was meant to be an educated guess based on my extensive match-fixing experience. Last but not least: at no time was I informed by the Der Spiegel journalist that our chat was going to end up in the German publication.”
But in a statement to the BBC, the highly respected magazine strongly disputed his version of events.
“We firmly stand by our assertion, that Mr Perumal wrote in a Facebook chat some hours before the World Cup match Croatia v Cameroon, that the result of the match will be a 4-0-victory for Croatia and that a player of Cameroon will get a red card in the first half,” the publication said.
The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), one of the world’s leading anti-matchfixing watchdogs, said it had not detected any “observable suspicious betting” on the game.
But ICSS director Chris Eaton said that the case nevertheless merited “a swift, strong and, most importantly, an international and co-ordinated investigation”.
“If it is confirmed that the advice from Perumal was made before the match and is accurate to the overall result and red card, then this allegation will no doubt be treated extremely seriously by football, governments and beyond,” he said.
“The Cameroon match-fixing case is a grave allegation with an alleged and strong indication of pre-match knowledge from a well-known match-fixer.”
Perumal, currently in Hungary where he has turned whistleblower in a local match-fixing trial, insists he is a reformed character.
“I have now turned (over) a new leaf and wish to put my expertise at the disposal of those willing to truly fight the scourge of match-fixing,” he said. “When the time is ripe I will share what I know with FIFA and UEFA, but I will not accept that my statements be manipulated at the detriment of others.”
FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer would not confirm or deny that world football’s governing body was investigating the claims, adding that even if it was, it would not reveal any information. “As we have said consistently – prior to the FIFA World Cup and now during it – we do not provide any comments as to whether or not an investigation is underway with regard to any alleged manipulation in any match, amongst others so as not to compromise any possible investigations,” she said.
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