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KNVB finds proof for match fixing in Dutch soccer

Xinhua, February 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

The integrity unit of the Dutch football association KNVB has for the first time confirmed that one match in Dutch professional soccer was fixed, the KNVB said in a press release on Monday.

The integrity unit found out in an investigation, at the request of the professional football prosecutor, that Ibrahim Kargbo, at that time player of Willem II, made an appointment with Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted Singaporean match-fixer, about a loss of Willem II in the match against FC Utrecht on Aug. 9, 2009.

Furthermore, the study shows that Kargbo and Perumal also organized a charity match of Willem II against Sierra Leone, the country of Kargbo, with the aim to manipulate this match and that they also agreed on the manipulation of matches of the national team of Sierra Leone.

"Dutch football has, as one of the last countries in Europe, now officially lost its innocence in this area," said Gijs de Jong, director of operations at the KNVB. "We know match fixing does not stop at our national borders. As we said long time ago that it can enter Dutch competitions, but it is sad that it is now officially established."

The integrity unit revealed email conversations between Kargbo and Perumal in which they agreed on the outcome of FC Utrecht-Willem II, which ended in a 1-0 win for Utrecht. Kargbo indicated in the mail that "the captain", then Maikel Aerts, would contribute and also a third player. The three would each receive 25,000 euros (28,000 U.S. dollars) for manipulating the match.

Despite FC Utrecht winning the match according to the arrangement, Perumal mailed Kargbo that the "fix" failed, because according to him the agreement was that FC Utrecht should have won by more than one goal difference. Nevertheless, the KNVB established that both parties agreed on the outcome. There is according to the KNVB not enough evidence to determine whether Aerts was involved and it is unclear who was the third person involved.

The reason for the investigation was an article in de Volkskrant in January 2015, in which the Dutch newspaper claimed that Ajax-Willem II (4-0) on Oct. 17, 2009 and Feyenoord-Willem II (1-0), on Dec. 19, 2009, have been fixed and sold by some Willem II players to an Asian gambling syndicate. The integrity unit has no information available that these respective matches were manipulated as well.

The now 33-year-old Kargbo, who denies to have manipulated matches of Willem II, cannot be prosecuted by the Dutch professional football, because he doesn't play in the Netherlands anymore. However, the KNVB decided that Kargbo can no longer become a member of the KNVB in the future and can never play football in the Netherlands anymore, or fulfill any other function in Dutch football.

The KNVB will send the report of the integrity unit to the world football association FIFA and to the European governing body UEFA. In addition, the KNVB has shared the report with the Dutch public prosecutor, which carries out a criminal investigation into the case. Enditem