AFC vows to support graft probe
7 Feb 2013 2:15 AM GMT
Asian football’s governing body offered its support Wednesday to an investigation by European police into a massive world-wide match-fixing scandal.
European police announced on Monday that they had uncovered a massive global match-rigging network that targeted hundreds of professional games, drawing in players, referees and other officials.
Police have said a crime syndicate in Singapore was liaising with criminal networks throughout Europe, with match-fixing having taken place in 15 countries, and 50 people arrested so far.
The AFC, based in neighbouring Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, said it was ‘fully prepared’ to support institutions in the fight against corruption, although no organisation has yet made ‘formal contact’ on the matter.
‘We are closely following the news reports which have suggested that Asia is one of the continents where the suspicious matches took place,’ said Alex Soosay, the body’s general secretary.
‘AFC has a zero-tolerance policy towards unethical practices in football, and we are determined to fight against any kind of irregularities in the game.’
European police announced on Monday that they had uncovered a massive global match-rigging network that targeted hundreds of professional games, drawing in players, referees and other officials.
Police have said a crime syndicate in Singapore was liaising with criminal networks throughout Europe, with match-fixing having taken place in 15 countries, and 50 people arrested so far.
The AFC, based in neighbouring Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, said it was ‘fully prepared’ to support institutions in the fight against corruption, although no organisation has yet made ‘formal contact’ on the matter.
‘We are closely following the news reports which have suggested that Asia is one of the continents where the suspicious matches took place,’ said Alex Soosay, the body’s general secretary.
‘AFC has a zero-tolerance policy towards unethical practices in football, and we are determined to fight against any kind of irregularities in the game.’
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