IN 2005, during the Jacob Zuma and Schabir Shaik case, we were actually reminded of the old adage which goes: “for every corruptor to be convicted of corruption, there must be a corruptee.”
News that the first round Fifa 2018 World Cup qualifying match between Bafana Bafana and Senegal has been ordered to be replayed after it was concluded by the football mother body that SA 2-1 win was due to match-fixing, still leaves me a little peeved.
Fifa have ordered a replay and there’s a question that’s left unanswered: Who is the corruptor here?
After the announcement, the South African Football Association (Safa) were up in arms and vowed to defend themselves and to appeal Fifa’s decision. But this week, they made a gigantic U-turn and are now willing to have a replay against Senegal.
What leaves a bitter taste in the mouth is that how did Fifa arrive to the decision and who actually manipulated the match.
Safa taking the moral high ground and accepting a replay against Senegal is commendable. They claim they don’t want to take points that were wrongfully gained. Fair enough!
It’s also worth mentioning that it was categorically stated that South Africa and Senegal did not play a part in the manipulation of that result.
But what gets my goat is that the soccer public still don’t have information as to who the culprit was.
We know there are betting syndicates and individuals who are able to manipulate matches without the two playing sides knowing about it. We know about Wilson Raj Perumal who could fix a match in Finland when he was staying in Singapore.
He was convicted and served sentences in Finland and Hungary.
Perumal was also fingered in the 2010 Bafana match-fixing scandal.
TO exonerate themselves, I’m sure that Safa would have wanted to know who really manipulated that particular match.
This is vital going forward, to avoid such from happening again.It’s also key from a PR perspective and especially for supporters to maintain faith and love for our beloved national team.
And why are Fifa not disclosing the guilty party, and why are Safa not interested in finding out and informing the SA public as to what really happened.
Right now, there are all sorts of insinuations being thrown around in the soccer circles.
I hope Safa would demand answers from Fifa and that those answers be communicated to Mzansi’s soccer loving-supporters. It’s only fair.
Many soccer matches have been won in dubious ways before, and we always knew that the referee’s decision was final, no matter how dodgy the decision.
The replay order is a very momentous and life-changing decision by Fifa.
They must have conclusive evidence of match-manipulation. As things stand, Fifa, Senegal and Safa seem to know something that we don’t.
