By Tony Attwood
Football matches are fixed either by bribing players or slipping favours to the ref. It has happened all over Italy, and in many other places too. There’s even be arrests of players in England and everyone knows we are cleaner than clean.
But now, it seems, even the World Cup is fixed. Or at least it is said that two countries qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa by fixing their way in.
Wilson Raj Perumal says he was part of a syndicate that fixed loads of matches all over the world. And he says in his new book he helped Nigeria and Honduras to reach the finals. That’s in addition to fixing loads of international friendlies through working with referees and players.
Perumal, who claimed he could make £3m in a single night on a fixed match, was finally arrested in Helsinki in 2011, sentenced to two years in prison but then co-operated with the authorities and handed over the names of other match fixers.
As a result of that Europol said in 2013 that over 380 professional games in Europe and over 300 games elsewhere that they knew about were suspicious.
Part of the deal he had with countries was that in returning for aiding qualification he was able to organise the warm-up matches, which he could then fix. He also got some of the money Fifa supposedly paid Nigeria in return for qualifying.
He has also been involved in arranging for bogus African teams to play official friendlies and reach the result he wanted. And as if that were not enough he says he was involved in bribing electricians in England to put out the floodlighting during the second half of a game if the score was advantageous. Remember Wimbledon?
Not every bribe works however and Perumal admits that his attempts to bribe two Premier League goalkeepers failed.
Does it all come as any surprise? No, of course not. All you have to do is read the predictions on Untold about referee performances and then watch them happen.
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- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal
keep it up; this information is very vital to some readers who real loves good and clean football
One Obvious example is South Korea in 2002, reaching semi-finals with obvious help from refs.
Fans walking out on Newcastle !
Newcastle are going to finish 9th behind, in alphabetical order:
Arsenal
Chelsea
Everton
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
Apart from Southampton and Spurs who out of that lot do they honestly think they should finish above?
west Ham fans protesting against Big Sam !
West ham are possibly going to finish half way up the Pl.
We apparently have groups of fans planning walk outs.
WHAT THE F**K IS FOOTBALL COMING TO.
If anyone was going to protest surely it should of been spurs and Manchester united Fans !!
Nothing to do with the fact that no matter what the Spurs and United media love-in never stops !!
jambug,
That is what you get when fans have been led by the media into believing that they are victims of some kind if their team fails to meet some random but often warped expectations.
I saw your comment on another thread about what Arsenal has in the bank or for spending on player recruitment (depending on who you ask or their agenda). I consider this sort of talk a waste of time.
Arsenal is a private organisation and its board gets to make decision on how it is run. END OF STORY!
I am grateful that the Arsenal board makes good financial decisions that have helped the club grow. I frankly don’t think that the amount of money that the club have in the bank or how they should spend it is any fan’s business. Some people need to get a grip on reality and stop inflating their importance.
We are supporters, we should support and stop harassing the people representing the clubs that we claim to love.
@ Jambug & Bootoomee
Whist I think that there is discontent at Newcastle re were they are going to finish up in the league the protests are more about Ashley and by association Pardew.
Their gripe is about the lack of & quality of players also in January they sold their best player with no replacement and since then they have dropped points like they were going out of fashion. The belief is that in January Ashley looked at the table and knew they were safe took the money and in effect wrote the season off.
I remember that Wimbledon game at Selhurst, 0-0 wasn’t it when the lights went out. There was another one involving Wimbledon at Derby earlier in the year and also one at Upton Park about the same time I think.
Bloody hell! What a goal from Barkley!
Everton leading 1-0
Equaliser from Aguero.
1-1
Mike T
I know what you are saying.
But we can all whinge and whine about this that and the other.
Not least Chelsea. Jose knew they was short on strikers/creativity yet sold Matta and didn’t but a striker in Jan.
Spurs because they pissed £100 million up the wall.
United because they employed a manager that hadn’t won a thing.
My point is all fans at all Clubs could find fault but surely you have to look at the bigger picture and Newcastle 9th and West ham just bellow mid table are where most right minded fans would of expected them to of finished. Even if they are a bit disappointed surely it’s far from ‘walking out’ territory !!
It’s 1-2 at half time. Dzeko has put Man City in front with a powerful header.
It’s now 1-3 to Man City.
Dzeko again.
Keep up Boo,
2-3 City now.
So we can take it easy for our two last games now
Finishes Everton 2 – 3 City.
That’s CL football again.
Say it quietly else we’ll be accused of celebrating.
Well done our team, Top 4 again, despite media, despite refs and despite injuries and after a grueling season.
To all the AAA and their apologists – I am celebrating this achievement – if you don’t like – tough!
Two priorities. Now checked.
FA cup next.
Go gunners……
jambug,
You caught me napping there 🙂 My girls needed me. Just returned to my computer.
YES!!!! It’s great to qualify for the elite club competition again.
On the celebration issue, those slagging us off for it are just being silly and disingenuous. Celebrations are often the result of overcoming despair. If a team needs to not lose a game by more than 2 goals margin to advance to the next stage or win a competition, such team will celebrate like hell if were trailing 3-0 and then get 1 goal in injury time to make it 3-1. This will be particularly sweet if their opponent is their fiercest rival.
That was the case last year. I can still recall Steve McManaman saying at half time of the last game that he still believed that Tottenham will get 4th ahead of us. This shows that he clearly believed that Arsenal weren’t going to make it. His hypocritical nature came to fore at the final whistle when he whined about Arsenal celebrating making 4th.
I screamed at my computer: YOU ASSHOLE, YOU SAID 45 MINUTES AGO THAT ARSENAL WOULD FAIL!!!!!
Today, on the other hand, there is no last minute survival. Even if Everton had won, we would have finished the business tomorrow or on the last day at Norwich. There is no feeling of escaping calamity which was palpable last year, hence the celebration then.
Congratulations to Arsenal for qualifying for champions league 17 years in a row.
Bootyoomee.
I know it goes something like this:
4th is no big deal, unless we look like missing out, then all of a sudden it’s the be all and end all. Then when we attain 4th it’s back to nothing again.
The FA Cup is a Trophy worth winning, right up until the time we look like winning it.
jambug,
Exactly!
Martinez must be looking somewhat foolish now in recently boasting that Arsenal would lose their remaining games and Everton would overtake them and qualify for next season’s CL.
Nicky
Yes it was uprising he said that, especially as he must have seen the fixture list for the last 4 or 5 games. That and losing two winnable games. No pressures on us now.
In retrospect, it is Laurent Koscielny’s goal against Newcastle that got us in the CL.
Not as dramatic as 2011-2012 or 2012-2013, but he has scored the three goals to get us in the CL three years in a row.
And now, let us play the accordion.
Match fixing indeed, Tony.
But I wonder – I would think sometimes the fix is brought about by powers within the establishment. The Hungarians that lost to Germany’s first world cup final win after World War 2 still claim they were robbed. They were not ‘allowed’ to win. The understanding was that through the world cup victory, the national self esteem of West Germany would improve and they could continue with optimism in rebuilding the country and morale of the people.
That is why I suspect Brazil has a more than decent chance. Last year in the Confed cup against Spain, they got away with alot of physical play that should have been called foul or yellow card. I expect more of the same this year. I just hope a team that deserves to win will triumph.
WOO HOO , HOO ! We have ‘WON’ the our second of our ‘throwpies ‘ ,even before kicking a ball this weekend !
Last night’s results were really sweet ,and got me on an even ‘high ‘( a bottle of wine can do that to you!).
Lets finish the last two EPL games in style and go to win the FA Cup , which ought finally to put that ”X’ number of years without a trophy ‘ to a rest .
Costa Rica to go into the second round ?
On a quiet ,but happy Sunday morning , while waiting for our game to begin , here’s something to while away the time ….Fallacies ..from,
http://www.dribbleglass.com/fallacies/index.htm
Ninjas, historically, didn’t wear black. For nighttime operations, they wore dark blues, dark grays, and browns.
Chastity belts were not originally imposed to keep people from having sex. They were intended to keep youngsters, of both sexes, from masturbating.
Contrary to popular belief, gladiators were lousy fighters in real combat. They were trained solely for arena fighting. On the actual battlefield, their skills were mediocre.
Potatoes weren’t originally grown as food. They were grown for use as ornamental decorations.
After reading this article ,I ‘ve come to understand better the people who come on here to complain about ….err ..basically everything !
To those who would complain that this article is too long and that their brains are too tired or don’t care a shit , fret not ! I’ve simplified it with the relevant salient points so that you don’t have to read it all ,but understand ‘everything’ as you have always been doing thus far!
The Dying Art of the Complaint
By Scott E. Roeben
http://www.dribbleglass.com/articles/art-of-the-complaint.htm
Let’s be clear about the problem. The decline of complaining is a direct threat to civilization as we know it. That’s right. The act of complaining binds us together as a society. The ability to complain is what makes us human—well, that, and our inability to fold fitted sheets.
Tip #1: When you complain, always ignore the facts.
That’s right. When you’re complaining, it’s essential you ignore any and all of the facts related to your complaint. Facts, after all, are ultimately irrelevant. Facts just muddy the waters.
Tip #2: Always exaggerate.
A simple but effective complaining technique: Don’t just do it—overdo it.
Tip #3: Always compare the present with the past.
Comparisons to the past are a great source of inspiration for creative complaining. Older people excel in the use of this technique, probably because they have more “past” than the rest of us.
Tip #4: Complain about things you can’t do anything about.
If you think people complain about things because they want things to change, you’re really off the mark. Complaining isn’t about change. It’s about complaining. Hence, it makes a good deal of sense to limit your complaints to things you can do nothing about. (Like the past, for instance. See Tip #3.)
If you remember nothing else about this guide to complaining, remember this key point: “Doing something” is the death of the complaint, and should be avoided at all cost.
We simply must ignore those who say that when we’re complaining, we’re merely observing what’s wrong with life rather than living it fully. We must ignore the people who tout the complaint-free lifestyle. These are the same lunatics who claim we should confront our complaints head-on. These are the people who make the outlandish claim that complaining erodes our quality of life. These individuals are clearly crackpots.
Remember, to err is human. To complain about someone else who erred is divine.
Excellent Aaron Ramsey interview in todays Guardian. He gives a little hint about one day going to La Liga.http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/03/aaron-ramsey-arsenal
It’s started all ready on the radio, according to the experts finishing fourth is ‘no achievement’ given the fact we were leading for so long (no mention of the injuries or the fact they all predicted we would finish 5th or lower at the beginning of the season). If we win the FA Cup it is ‘papering over the cracks’, Wenger has ‘bought more time’ etc etc, all the tired old cliches. Just what I was expecting really from the media wankers.
@Jax,
With the pressure off and only the FA Cup to anticipate, it will be interesting to see how Arsene handles the selection from now on.
Does he rest key players and run the risk of them losing the pace of a winning run? Or does he risk injury in the final two matches of the season?
It’s this sort of selection worry that Arsene has to face continually and the reason why his appearance has aged so much since he first joined Arsenal FC all those years ago.
nicky
Massive, massive squad rotation, even though 3rd is still a possibility. Sanogo for sure and perhaps other kids to get a first start. Arsene looks even older than me these days.
Jax,
But not me, unfortunately!
😀 Exactly, Mick!
Not to forget, no trophies since XYZ, but the FA Cup doesn’t really count, now that we look like we could win it.
The fact that we’re fewer points away from the top than last season.
Wenger will refuse to spend this summer, even though he bought Ozil for over £40m.
But where is the criticism of Man U?
Chelsea spending over £100m and playing the most boring football in Europe, but still not winning anything, even with a ‘genius’ for a manager.
The Spuds spending £100m and finishing off WORSE in the League.
Why don’t they receive the same level of criticism as us?
Mick
If we’ve got ‘cracks’ WTF have united and Spurs got ‘Canyons’ !!!
Lets not forget it looks like Chelsea and Liverpool have won nothing again. That’s 2 years without a trophy for chelsea…well they started on at us that quick, and How many for Liverpool?
Maybe not ‘Canyons’ but a bit of a ‘Cheddar gorge’ thing going on there me thinks.
I said it earlier, it doesn’t matter what we do it’s never enough.
When you can go a season unbeaten and still have that prick Durham criticising it, what chance have you got?
@
Jambug
You said
Lets not forget it looks like Chelsea and Liverpool have won nothing again. That’s 2 years without a trophy for chelsea…well they started on at us that quick, and How many for Liverpool
2 years Are you sure?
Dur !
OF COURSE the world cup is fixed. Don’t you remember Japan/Korea 2002? Both the S. Korea v. Spain and S. Korea v. Italy were fixed. I think that world cups, with refs coming from nations which are, let’s put it this way, are not famous for their football tradition – are where the most obvious exasmples of shitty ref decisions, which go absurdly in favor of the (insert: then relevant – Asian) market).