JOVITO LOPES
PANJIM: Having acted swiftly, the Goa Police and Goa Football Association (GFA) have sent a stern message that allegations of corruption relating to match-fixing will be dealt with speedily and effectively after Chapora Yuvak Sangh became the first club to accuse some of their own players of alleged manipulations in some of their Goa Professional League matches, stated Adv Dominic Pereira, former two-term member of GFA’s Executive Committee.
“If anyone approaches you for any corrupt practice, it’s your responsibility to report it. The time is ripe to stress on zero-tolerance policy on corruption and leave no stone unturned to protect the integrity of football,” declared Dominic.
“Match-fixing is not a recent phenomenon. It’s been a menace for decades which is hampering the growth and integrity of ‘The Beautiful Game’. It has to be weeded out urgently and when guilt is proven, swift and severe action, including life-time bans from the sport imposed. Further, criminal convictions leading to jail time can provide a strong deterrent,” mentioned Dominic.
“Investigations, penalties and legal actions must happen quickly and decisively. Such an approach is necessary to minimise damage to the integrity of the sport and also to send a strong message to others,” observed the lawyer, adding that the sport’s integrity needs to be protected by all means.
With the GFA adopting the GFA Ethics Code 2021 on March 18, 2021, the match-fixing allegations can be investigated by the GFA Ethics Committee in consonance with Article II Section 21 of GFA Ethics Code 2021 which was adopted at the instance of Genius Company that has a strong focus on sports integrity services. It still has a tie-up with the association, having even red-flagged matches in the past for alleged match-fixing.
Article 81 of GFA’s Disciplinary Code (General Jurisdictions) states, “The Disciplinary Committee is authorised to sanction any breach of GFA regulations, which does not come under the jurisdiction of another body,” divulged Dominic.
“The right procedure could be to conduct an extensive inquiry under the supervision of an Integrity Officer and as per the GFA Ethics Code 2021, varied powers have been provided under Article II Section 21 to investigate into bribery and corruption. The GFA Ethics Committee also has power to carry on prosecution as per various GFA Codes and Rules and Regulations,” averred the lawyer.
“The action of the club which filed the complaint, Chapora YS, is commendable. The complaint has to be investigated in depth, getting to the root of the problem, as one says “you cannot clap with one hand”. This could be the tip of the iceberg, perhaps and other clubs, players, referees, coaches, managements could also be inquired on the basis of leads,” pointed out the lawyer. That apart, the possibility that meagre salaries paid to the players could be the main reason for players being easily lured into wrong doing, need also to be checked, he added.
The GFA, in order to cleanse the system, may need to inquire into the bank statements of some GPL Clubs (not companies), especially some of those who have gained a direct entry into Goa Professional League by paying Rs 50 lakh. Besides, there may be a need to verify the antecedents of the sponsors and also to verify as to whether payments made to players by the clubs are in consonance with the contracts, stated Domnic.
Commenting on the system of direct entry into the Professional League by paying the huge amount of Rs 50 lakh, Domnic felt that it spoils the actual footballing spirit as there are no demotions for teams gaining direct entry (by paying the lump sum amount) for three years while the other teams go through the grind and try for years together to gain an entry into the Professional League purely on footballing merit.
Teams gaining direct entry by paying huge lump sum also hamper the prospects of other teams in the league as they are given the advantage of not having demotions for three years, thus creating an unfair playing field, cautioned Domnic.
The lawyer highlighted that even the All India Football Federation has now realised that demotions in the league system need to be mandatory in the best interest of football. Consequently, in order to have a level playing field for all the teams in the league, the concept of direct entry into the GPL should be done away with and, moreover, the same rules for demotion made applicable to all, implying that even a team which has gained a direct entry ought to follow the rules of demotion applicable to the rest of the teams, in order to have a level playing field.
The time has come to act firmly, or else one could even see the death of ‘The Beautiful Game’ in Goa, summed up the lawyer, who stressed that the GFA as an affiliated member of the AIFF bears a special responsibility to safeguard the integrity and reputation of football in Goa.
The lawyer pointed out that the AIFF has an Integrity Officer, keeping in tune with FIFA and Asian Football Confederation’s mandate, whose responsibilities include implementing and revising the integrity framework, conducting risk assessment and coordinating with stakeholders to prevent issues like match-fixing, corruption and doping.
