Football and
corruption seem to go hand in hand these days.
FIFA is in hot water over the
winning bid from Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, and with scandals of match
fixing popping up all around the world it should be no surprise that this year’s
World Cup in Brazil is being looked at as a possible risk for corruption.
Interpol
secretary-general has confirmed that one of their investigative teams has been
sent to Brazil, due to the high risk of matches being fixed during the World
Cup.
Ron Noble has told reporters that organized groups have been
involved with illegal gambling and anytime you have illegal gambling on games
you also have a higher probability of matches being fixed.
Ralf Mutschke former Interpol and currently responsible for
security at FIFA admitted to BBC last May that no game, no tournament is safe
from being used for illegal betting and match fixing, even the World Cup.
Mutschke also confirmed that some teams have already been identified by these
groups as targets, some of the players have also been approached and even the
friendlies leading into the tournament had been at risk.
One of the friendly matches leading to the World Cup that
was draped in controversy was the Nigeria vs. Scotland game. Nigerian
goalkeeper, Austin Ejide came out to clear a ball and looked like he threw the
ball into his own net. This has to be one of the most bizarre own goals in the
history of international football. Plays like this, cast a shadow of suspicion
over the game and the players and does very little to clean the image that
football currently holds of being a game where the results can be bought.
For the last 2 years, Mutschke and his team have been
preparing for this and they believe that not only players are at risk but also
match officials. This is done behind the scenes and it is not in the open,
which makes his job of investigating it that much harder. Nobody is going to
walk up to the hotel door with a bag of money; this process is done in the
shadows and very rarely involves face to face contact. Mutschke would not
reveal the teams or players that are under the eye of Interpol, since this is a
police matter and he doesn't want to put at risk the investigation.
This is the ugly side of the beautiful game, but it shouldn't
surprise anyone that even at this level the risk of corruption and match fixing
is real. FIFA is not a very transparent organization to begin with, not that
they condone match fixing, but they need to be able to clean their own house if
they are to address the real issues of match fixing and minimize it. I think
stopping this issue is nearly impossible, but it can be contained and the
parties caught in it need to be brought to justice.
The game of football has become a very dirty and lucrative
business, it is no longer just about what 22 players do on the field and that
is something that everyone that loves the game should be worried about.
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