tahminalucchi: Thai football rocked by match-fixing allegation

বুধবার, ২০ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Thai football rocked by match-fixing allegation

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Football

The Nation February 19, 2013 1:00 am

The Japanese referee in charge of the match has reported he was approached by unknown

persons and asked to help fix the result. Buriram won the game 2-1, to clinch their second successive title plus an AFC Champions League play-off place.

Football Association of Thailand president Worawi Makudi said he would open an investigation into the accusation, reported to Asian soccer's governing body, the AFC, by the Japanese official. "We have already received the report the Japanese referee sent. I'll discuss the incident with Fifa and AFC officials as well as with Interpol when I travel to Malaysia on Thursday for a seminar about the problem of match-fixing. We have already sent them all the relevant evidence we have about the game in question," said Worawi. "However, we will also be discussing the issue at the association's board meeting tomorrow. We already have a committee to take care of the matter."

Worawi said it remained unknown what impact the investigation would have on Buriram's participation in Asia's Champions League. Buriram beat Australia's Brisbane Roar on penalties to book a berth in the group stage earlier this month.

The allegation in Thailand comes amid revelations of a match-fixing scandal across 15 countries and centred on the influence of organised crime syndicates based in Asia. Europol's investigation has so far led to dozens of arrests.