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Three former SAFA officials banned in connection with 2010 match fixing
Former Safa CEO Leslie Sedibe as well as Steve Goddard and Adeel Carelse, both former heads of the South African Football Association’s refereeing department, have been banned by Fifa’s ethics committee in matters relating to match-fixing in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup.
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Three former South African Football Association (SAFA) officials have been banned in connection with alleged bribery in international friendlies played by the national side in 2010, soccer’s governing body FIFA said on Monday.
Leslie Sedibe was banned for five years and fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($20,250) by FIFA’s Ethics Committee. Steve Goddard and Adeel Carelse, both former heads of the South African Football Association’s refereeing department, were each banned for two years.
The cases were linked to that of former SAFA executive member and head of referees Lindile Kika, who was banned for six years by FIFA last October.
Fifa investigated friendlies played between 16 May and 10 June on South African soil in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup.
The report found that there was a “very real possibility” that some of the officials were corrupt and potentially working with an international syndicate called Football4U. One of the men involved, Wilson Perumal Raj, has already been arrested and jailed for match-fixing.
The report found that Perumal and his agents ingratiated themselves with Safa officials‚ offering to arrange friendly matches and referees and paying for the costs. The report said Safa broke FIFA rules by allowing Football4U to appoint referees.
It further said that Bafana’s 5-0 win over Guatemala on May 31‚ 2010 was been fixed‚ up to a “criminal standard”. The only match that was completely cleared was the friendly between South Africa and Denmark on 5 June 2010.
The results were fixed for betting purposes by criminal syndicates. Perumal had said that the fixed matches against Thailand, Colombia, Bulgaria and Guatemala allowed him to earn “millions” from betting.
More sanctions could be looming when the committee investigates the alleged vote buying that led to South Africa hosting the 2010 World Cup. Two senior South African World Cup bid officials have been implicated by the US Attorney General’s case against some 40 corrupt FIFA officials.
