FIFA actually doing something right

[uhuhduh.livejournal.com]

Disciplinary proceedings against officials in relation to international matches

FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against six match officials in relation to the international A friendly matches Bolivia-Latvia and Estonia-Bulgaria played in Antalya (Turkey) on 9 February 2011.

The proceedings were opened following an evaluation of all documentation and information received by FIFA, in relation to a possible match fixing situation in these matches.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee will be in charge to deal with the matter.



About damn time.

Source

Comments

[sanysunshined.livejournal.com]

These games were ridiculous. Ours(I'm Bulgarian) finished 2 - 2 off 4 penalties, and if I remember correctly the other one was similar.

About time they looked closely into the possibilities officials are purposely not always objective

[sanysunshined.livejournal.com]

Also, can you please post a source because I'd like to take a look. Thanks!

[uhuhduh.livejournal.com]

addeddddd

[elizaberglund.livejournal.com]

Fixing friendlies???? ... I don't get it!

[walker-sarah.livejournal.com]

why do you want to fix friendlies? IDGI

[sanysunshined.livejournal.com]

Money off bets

Such are the rumors over here

[walker-sarah.livejournal.com]

oh yeah "money"

got it now thanks

[walker-sarah.livejournal.com]

Match-fixing by illegal betting rings has become a major concern for sporting authorities.
UEFA president Michel Platini has described it as the biggest scourge facing football and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said last week it was putting sport in danger.
The four teams involved complained at the time about the refereeing.
"We had some doubts about the refereeing in this match," Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) president Borislav Mihaylov told reporters after his team's match.
Gustavo Quinteros, making his debut as Bolivia coach, told La Razon newspaper after the game: "For me, he (the referee) invented all three of the penalties, the two against us and the one in favour. It was a disgrace."
There was also confusion over the identities of the referees.
Official reports from the BFU and the Estonian FA say the referee at their match was Hungarian Krisztian Selmeczi.
However, Hungarian referees' chief Laszlo Wagner and Hungarian media have indicated the referee was Selmeczi's compatriot Kolos Lengyel.
Wagner said last month the three Hungarian match officials involved would be suspended.
"I'm shocked because we didn't receive a letter to allow these referees (Selmeczi, Lengyel and Janos Csak) to officiate at this game," Wagner told Bulgarian radio at the time.
"I can say that these three will not officiate any more matches while I'm head of the commission."
The Bolivian Football Federation asked FIFA for an identity check after their game against Latvia.
"We asked to check if the referees from the Czech Republic were the ones who took charge of the match and if they had FIFA credentials," it said a statement published on its website.
FIFA said last week it would tighten the rules over friendlies, which until now have been a free-for-all with no control from football's governing body.
FIFA said it would have to be informed who was refereeing each match and that it would intervene in the future if it saw anything suspicious.

http://fourfourtwo.com/news/restofeurope/75121/default.aspx

[silkzzz.livejournal.com]

Yes. YES. Match fixing, betting, big money. These shenanigans are so rampant. The big, big dogs are much smoother about it. Corruption? go figure.....
These dingdongs must've just been a tad too blatant.

[mapmakerscolors.livejournal.com]

Makes you wonder if any of the bigger matches were fixed, you know? Just more discreetly. It must have been pretty obvious for even the dumbasses at FIFA to think it was fishy (or decide they needed to investigate to preserve their image...).

[silkzzz.livejournal.com]

Yup. I think it's fairly standard to see more subtle "influencing" by officials. Not to be a total tin-foil hat, but "football is life" and has the same corruption we see all over the place. Officials are human & all, but yeah, it's dirty & it's about the money. But we fans still love the pure sport....