LOCAL football districts have been warned by the Fiji Football Association not to get into the match-mixing scam.
This after Fiji FA established an ethics committee consisting two lawyers and a magistrate to look into match-fixing allegations and other legal issues.
The Fiji FA chief executive officer Bob Kumar said the ethics committee was very powerful and districts should be aware of the consequences of match-fixing.
“They have full authority to deal with the issues. The committee will handle all the issues (legal) themselves,” he said.
“FIFA is very strict on the match-fixing and any form of match-fixing will be handled by the committee.
“We will identify such cases and refer it to the committee and they will take (appropriate) actions. Match-fixing is not allowed at all.”
Kumar said it was hard to prove the match-fixing.
“If there are evidences of match-fixing and negotiation going prior to the match then this will also be taken into account.
“Any evidence of match-fixing should be brought to our attention and we will give it to the committee for investigation.”
During the 2015 Courts Inter-District Championship there were rumours that the match between Suva and Nadi was fixed where Suva defeated Nadi 3-0 to qualify for the semi-finals. The players of both teams were playing in their own territory after Suva scored three unanswered goals.
However Kumar said, “We had some cases in the past but we were not able to prove it. Even Suva and Nadi case (last year IDC) people were saying it was a fixed game. However, from the game and the scores it appeared Suva wanted to score more goals and Nadi wanted to defend.
“We are telling our district association about the committee which is very powerful and even former FIFA president (Joseph) Sepp Blatter was suspended by the ethics committee.
“They will be independent committee. There are many people who have ended up in jail for match-fixing but at the moment I don’t know whether people here will go to jail or fined,” he added.
