Warriors-Bafana Bafana match fixed? FIFA investigator Terry Steans says Zimbabwe’s 3-nil defeat to South Africa in an international friendly played in January 2010 might have been fixed. A FIFA report into South African friendly matches played just before the 2010 World Cup is suggesting an international friendly involving Bafana Bafana and the Warriors at the Moses Mabhida stadium on 27 January 2010 may have been fixed. Steans, who was commissioned by football’s international governing body to write the 2012 report into South Africa’s friendly matches, says the Zimbabwe versus South Africa encounter took place under shady circumstances. He is quoted as saying “there is no doubt that the game was highly suspicious”. The friendly which South Africa won against Zimbabwe with three second half goals was identified in the FIFA report as likely to have been dubious. Bafana’s friendly against Zimbabwe was reportedly primarily to raise money for the then cash strapped national association. Steans’ report, however, suggests the Zimbabwe-South Africa game had the secondary function of providing Wilson Perumal and the Singaporean ring with a match that could be manipulated for the illegal betting markets of Thailand, Malaysia, and China. SAFA officials are quoted in the FIFA report as saying they had significant doubts about the match.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 17:41:06 +0000