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Fifa gives Interpol millions to combat Asia-based match
fixing |
9/05/2011 |
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Press Association |
'Match
fixing shakes the foundations of sport,' says Blatter If fans can't
trust results, 'Fifa would lose all credibility'
Fifa and Interpol have signed a landmark agreement aimed
at eliminating Asian-based match fixing, which has led to scores of arrests
across Europe and millions of pounds paid to players and officials.
Under a new 10-year agreement
Interpol will receive around £3.5m from Fifa in the first two years
followed by £1.3m in each of the following eight to try to wipe out the
illegal betting rings that the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, said struck at the
heart of the governing body's credibility.
Blatter said: "Match fixing shakes the very
foundations of sport. We are committed to doing everything in our power to
tackle this threat. We have to try to put an end to these activities.
"Fans will no longer go to football matches if they know they are fixed
and, if that happens, everything that has been created in Fifa will count for
nothing.
"Fifa would lose all credibility if fans no longer believe in
what is known in Great Britain as the beautiful game. It's not enough to go
against corruption and bad behaviour on the field of play, red cards and yellow
cards. We also have to look at those who try to destroy our game."
Commissioner Friedhelm Althans of Germany, who heads the Bochum inquiry
into match fixing, gave a stark picture of the extent of the problem across
Europe. He said: "We know about 300 matches in 20 countries where we have the
suspicion that they may have manipulated.
"The matches concerned
involve mainly lower-ranking leagues but it goes all the way up to national
teams, Champions League matches and Europa League matches.
"The money
involved for players, referees and officials amounts to 1.7m
[£1.5m] but we don't know how much has been paid beyond our knowledge."
Althans warned the German inquiry was merely "the tip of the iceberg"
and was joined in this assessment by the Interpol general secretary, Ronald
Noble, who said the criminals involved move from country to country, sometimes
with more than one set of false documents to move money around.
"We
have to do everything in our power to keep the sport clean," Noble said.
"Corruption in sport is so damaging. With a handful of cases you have to ask
whether a viewer or spectator can have confidence in the match he or she is
watching."
But, Noble said, Interpol had already enjoyed a number of
successes which should send a clear message to the gambling dens. "During the
2010 World Cup we ran an operation out of Malaysia, China, Singapore and
Thailand," he said. "During a one-month operation 5,000 arrests were made, in
excess of $26m [£16m] in cash were seized and illegal gambling dens which
handled more than $2bn worth of bets were closed."
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