PANJIM: In a shocking revelation, one that could bring disgrace to Goan football, certain players and officials have confirmed that match-fixing does exist in games played in Goa.
It may be recalled that Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had red flagged six matches of the Goa Professional League a few months ago on the basis of suspicious betting —indicative of match manipulation.
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Herald on an investigating mission discovered startling facts of Goan football. Indeed, such malpractices have come to light but surprisingly players of some clubs whose names do not figure in the AFC/AIFF report, have spoken out and this has opened a can of worms that will have far reaching and disastrous repercussions for Goan football.
On condition of anonymity, a Goa Professional League player revealed that such malpractices exist in the domestic football league in the State and many players are involved it.
Several players have received calls from +91 933******2 asking them to either concede goals or to not score.
“The players are offered from INR 40,000 to INR 60,000 per game for non performance and letting in goals as per the instructions given by them (the match fixers),” stated a player who was contacted by Herald.
It was revealed that in some instances the players were asked to under perform – either not to score goals or to let in goals. “We were told what is to be done prior to the match and sometimes during the match. At times we were told not to score and there were instances where we were asked to concede goals,” stated the player who added that the payments were made in cash soon after the match.
Sources also indicate that the bookies/callers demanded to maintain the desired goal difference in a manipulated match.
Some players disclosed that they were approached by some unknown persons (external person) or players from their own team to under-perform.
“Sometimes without the knowledge of the officials or team managers, our own players used to approach the players to give away the games. The teammates used to offer money to us,” added another source who was approached by his own teammate and also by an unknown person.
What’s even more shocking is that some of the players revealed that their managements are involved and refused to pay their salaries until they agreed to comply with the demands on the field.
“To be honest, we were never in favour of doing this (giving away matches). But we were instructed by our management/coaching staff to comply or else we wouldn’t be paid our salaries. We had no choice but to listen to our management as this was our only source of income,” stated a player who had been forced into such malpractices due to their management.
As per Herald’s understanding, there were many players and coaches who parted ways with their respective clubs on various suspicious reasons.
It is pertinent to note that at least three players of a well-known Professional League Club had their contracts terminated due to non-performance. None of the players questioned the termination, which according to reliable sources cannot be done due to non performance. This makes one wonder whether the termination was really due to non performance.
On further investigation by Herald, it has been revealed that a city-based club had filed a police complaint. “I had received a Whatsapp call from an unknown number 7265********4 informing me to make sure that my team under performs. I consulted with my management and immediately filed a police complaint,” stated an official of the club. However the State Association was not informed of this.
It shouldn’t be surprising if well known reputed players and officials are caught in these malpractices as names of some players playing for top clubs also surfaced during the Herald investigation.
