Match-fixing dossier given to Ghanaian police

Mark Gleeson
Wednesday 30 January 2008 01:00 GMT
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A dossier on attempts to fix matches at the African Nations Cup finals here has been given to Ghana police, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said yesterday.

Both Benin and Namibia were approached last week to throw games at the tournament in Ghana by an unidentified man who offered money to lose group matches. The incidents were reported by Benin coach Reinhard Fabisch and Namibia players to local authorities, CAF said.

CAF general secretary Mustapha Fahmy said a dossier, including statements from those approached and contact details given by a man purporting to represent betting interests in Singapore, was turned over to police.

"We have asked them to do a thorough investigation and have given them all the details we were able to collect," Fahmy said.

Namibia were offered up to $30,000 (£15,000) per player to lose their game against Guinea on Monday, which ended in a 1-1 draw, but players then immediately reported the approach to team officials.

Fabisch revealed details of an approach he received ahead of Benin's opening game against Mali in Sekondi. Fabisch said he was approached by a man claiming to be from a Singapore-based company and later made an affidavit to CAF.

"He wanted to find out from me if there was any possibility of manipulating the match," Fabisch said.

The man said the company he represented claimed to be able to fix matches across Africa.

Today at the Nations Cup

* GROUP C

Cameroon v Sudan, 17.00, Kumasi. Live on Eurosport and BBCi.

Egypt v Zambia, 17.00, Kumasi. Live on BBCi.

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