Soccer is falling under a cloud of suspicion as never before, sullied by a multibillion-dollar web of match-fixing that is corrupting increasingly larger parts of the world’s most popular sport.
Internet betting emboldened criminal gangs and even the economic downturn have created conditions that make soccer – or football, as the sport is called around the world – a lucrative target.
Known as “the beautiful game” for its grace, athleticism and traditions of fair play, soccer is under threat of becoming a dirty game.
“I have just watched a match in the almost certain knowledge not only of who would win, but with a fairly shrewd idea of what the score would be,” a former football coach said.
“I was right on both counts. This game was played last weekend in the top division of a European league and I was not the only one who knew. At least £1.5m (€1.76m) was wagered on this game via betting exchanges – a game that would normally have attracted perhaps £50,000 (€58,800).”
In Africa, some football clubs have made it a norm to fix their own games to finance their budgets.
“Most of our games are played in our dressing rooms where the team chairman comes and tells us that I want you guys to lose this game by a margin of these goals, and when that is said, we are sure that we have some very good allowance on that day. At least each player receives a minimum of $2,000 allowance after the game. We can’t leave such a club,” one of the club captains revealed.
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