Match fixing saga at 2008 AFCON:

By Jerrmiah Sawyerr

Football pundit believes international media handling of the allegation may blight the aspirations of the tournament 

It’s just over a week since the 26th Edition of Africa’s most prestigious tournament, AFCON, started.

Promising as it was, it has however now been overshadowed by allegations of match-fixing. International media hype over the alleged scam has generated debate among sports analysts and observers in our local sporting world here in Sierra Leone.

Ibrahim Mansaray, a local sport observer in the Fourahbay community, said though the phenomenon of match-fixing is not unique, he is too obsessed with Western media coverage of the recent AFCON case. He said a year or so back the Italian Serie A was embroiled in a match-fixing saga. He said the matter was investigated and the clubs that were found wanting punished appropriately. Mansaray said the international media should therefore take a low profile on the topic and wait for CAF investigation into the allegation. He said the match-fixing scam should not overshadow the competition, thereby making it the issue of the day.

Mansaray further said unless the continent’s football becomes attractive, Africans footballers would remain the most vulnerable. He said lack of equal opportunities for African players in the continent has exacerbated the situation. The football follower said only few of the players that are playing their professional soccer in Africa are earning few thousand Dollars while the bulk receives stipend from their employers. Added to the unavailability of better opportunity for players in Africa, many African local leagues are very much amateur; therefore it doesn’t encourage sponsorship from multi lateral or indigenous companies. He said the betting firms capitalise on these loopholes that eventually lure unscrupulous representatives to chase our much deprive player to fix their matches. He said this phenomenon is not only capable of endangering the talents of African footballers playing in Africa but also undermining the development of the game.

“The world governing football body (FIFA), CAF and local football associations in Africa need to institute stringent laws that outlaw match-fixing with severe punishment for defaulters. Until such laws are passed, African based players will still remain tempted,” said Mansary. The match fixing allegation came up after the Benin/Mali clash and before the Namibia/Guinea showdown.