The weekend’s Third Division Play-offs of Safa Cape Town at the William Herbert Sports Complex have been hit by controversy and allegations of match-fixing after two of the matches recorded irregular high scores.
And it would not be farfetched to ask that the world governing body, Fifa, steps in to find out what transpired in the matches between Diadora FC and Electric City, which ended in a 35-1 win for the Hanover Park side, and a 22-0 win for Two For Joy against West Coast.
Diadora ended up winning Group H with a superior goal difference of 2 compared to Two For Joy.
Tongues are now wagging – especially since video footage of one of the matches shows that no attempt was made by one of the teams to stop its opponent from scoring.
Just as Fifa did in the past when ridiculous and questionable scores were recorded, they have acted accordingly and dealt with the perpetrators that bring the game into disrepute.
Last year Matiyasi FC needed a miracle against Nsami Mighty Birds to get promoted to the ABC Motsepe League. They were in third place in the table with a far inferior goal difference to the top two and only a massive win could have given them a chance of promotion.
They needed to win by 18 goals and ended with a winning margin of 59-1, 41 of these goals happened to be own goals.
Similarly, Fifa should now intervene and investigate the scrupulous dealings and mockery that played out over the weekend in Wynberg.
In fact, Fifa has dealt severely with clubs, officials and administrators that have been found guilty of contravening the rule of Fair Play.
In 2016 former SAFA chief executive officer Leslie Sedibe was given a five-year ban from all football activities and also fined 20,000 Swiss francs.
Steve Goddard and Adeel Carelse, who each served as SAFA’s head of referees, have been given suspensions of two years. All three were found guilty of breaches of conduct and disclosure.
In 2010 another SA official Lindile Kika was banned for six years for his role in a major match-fixing scandal with Asian betting syndicates before South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup.
The biggest match-fixing scandal in the history of football occurred in Italy with top clubs such as Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina involved.
The clubs conspired to influence the appointment of match officials for their games and get the desired result.
It will be interesting to see how Safa CT approaches this very serious matter as it involves some of the big names in local amateur soccer.
