By Patrick Johnston
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – FIFA Vice President Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein has called for more investment to help tackle the “huge problem” of match-fixing in soccer.
More cases of match-fixing are springing up around the world with Zimbabwe’s football association suspending 80 players for allegedly fixing matches earlier this month , while 18 youth players were banned in Malaysia this week .
“Let me make it clear, match-fixing is a huge problem, especially in Asia, and we need to tackle it,” Prince Ali told Reuters in an interview.
“We need to get on with this and try as much as we can to prevent this from happening and I think that our security departments need to be given the support that they need to tackle this issue immediately.”
FIFA’s head of security Chris Eaton told Reuters late last year that the world governing body was winning the battle against match-fixing as cases arose in Greece, Turkey, Italy, China, South Korea and Finland.
Prince Ali agreed with Eaton that it was pleasing arrests were being made but stressed that now was not the time to stop the drive.
“I’m happy that (arrests are) happening but I also think we need to go to the source as well and in order to get to the source we have to have much more investment in this field.
“It is a huge issue, obviously not just Asia but the world over. That’s why I’m here and happy to help tackle this as much as we can.”
