World Cup Match Fixing History

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/wo...FIFA-past-allegations-tournament-started.html

I thought a long time before posting this. I was going to write about this after the final, as I've been thinking about it for a while, but when this came up, I wanted to address it here. I really didn't want to start any absurd conspiracy theories, and really didn't want to come off like I was trolling, but I think this is worth being considered. My reasons are as follows (mods - if this seems too off-topic or inflammatory, feel free to delete - I won't be offended).

For those who think this is an absurd concept, I would refer you to the writing of Andrew Jennings (background) and Declan Hill (specifics on match fixing).

First of all, I have been privileged to know several FIFA referees, including two World Cup referees, and I think they would rather die penniless in the street than take a bribe. However, it usually doesn't work quite that way.

Hill talked for a while with Robert Hoyzer, the Bundesliga referee who went to prison for match fixing - he describes the "slow seduction" of players, coaches, administrators and referees and how after a time, they wind up doing things they never thought they would.

Hill also interviews former FIFA secretary general Michael Zen Ruffinen, who describes how referees were provided with prostitutes before European Cup matches. He mentions an episode before a match in Seville, where the crew was brought to a high end department store the day before the game and told (I quote from memory here) "We'll be back in a few hours - anything you want is on us. Of course, being Swiss, we went for coffee, but could you imagine what it was like if we were from Ukraine or another Eastern Bloc country?"

Zen Ruffinen also quotes a former (chairman?) of the UEFA referee's committee, who said that gifts to the referees before the match "should be small... And Expensive!"

In another book, an episode from the 1990 World Cup was described, where referees (who were sequestered in central Rome, in a building owned by the Vatican) received phone calls in their rooms asking if they would fix a match.

Fixing can be subtle - remember Pierluigi Pairetto - a referee at the 1994 World Cup (most memorably the classic Argentina-Romania R16 match), as well as the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final and the EURO '96 Final who received a 3 year ban for his role in the Calciopoli scandal - he arranged for referee assignments to Juventus that would most likely fit with their style and benefit them.

Finally, let's not forget Kurt Rothlisberger, who was involved in one of the more controversial no-calls in WC'94 (no penalty call in BEL-GER) and was banned for soliciting a bribe two years later. I'm not saying that this was a fixed call, just that there is reason for suspicion.

I understand that these two authors that I mentioned above are not definitive or authoritative - they both agree that there is a lot we don't know and that their sources could be leading them on. With that said, I would encourage you to read and decide for yourself.

The books are:
Andrew Jennings
- Foul
- Omertà

Declan Hill
- The Fix
- The Insiders Guide to Match Fixing in Football

 

Unsure what you meant by this...

 

oh

Seriously, they both start with "c" - what did you expect?

Well, I look like an idiot

Still, good points have been made