Gambling fuelling match fixing — expert

DEAD SEA — What is fuelling match fixing is not simply spontaneous crime by players, referees or administrators, it is actually the hundreds of millions of dollars gambled on football every week in Southeast Asia where the money comes for criminals to fix matches, Chris Eaton, the executive director of sport integrity at the International Centre for Sport Security, told The Jordan Times.

During an interview on the sidelines of the Soccerex Asian Forum at the Dead Sea, Eaton said the reality is that fixing has become far too routine at the lower level of football in Southeast Asia, and Asia generally, particularly in the qualifying rounds, in international friendlies and the U-17 and U-19 matches.

“They become too routine, it needs a lot of attention from everybody in football not just the administrators, clubs, players or referees. All parts of football have to be alert to the fact that if nothing is done very soon, football is in a very grave state of credibility,” he added.

Eaton took part in integrity in Asian football session during the forum, highlighting the danger of this kind of trend against the beauty of football. 

“Match fixing in Asia is quite high but I would not say it is the highest and that is not because Asia is the cleanest,” he told The Jordan Times.

Eaton noted that over the last 10 years, most fans have lost confidence in the integrity of Asian football and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is taking the right steps to correct the perception of fans and have them believe that Asian football can be trusted.

“I think restoring the confidence of Asian fans and international fans in Asian football is a prime role of the AFC leadership and I think they recognise that,” he added.

He said in football there is no single body controlling the football administration. FIFA is not in control of all football and confederations are also not in control of all football.

“Football needs to join up in this fight against criminals who are taking advantage of football because of the massive gambling around the world,” he added.

He said it is very good to see organisations like Soccerex taking an interest in helping football find the right design to correct itself and look after itself.

“But I repeat, the main people that have to do something are the governments of the world, not only football,” he added.