ottawaguy2009 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I'm busy reading Declan Hill's, The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime</u> and I must say that I find it difficult to watch matches now without wondering which players are perhaps in on match fixing plots. According to Hill match fixing was rampant throughout some of the Asian leagues in the 90s (Malaysian, Singapore leagues). Certain informants even claimed to have gotten to players on Liverpool, Crystal Palace, and Wimbledon. (p. 213) According to this match fixer ("Chin"): "I went to the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996...I fixed a game in the 1996 Olympics: Tunisia versus Portugal. I bribed some of the Tunisian guys to lose outside of the spread. They did it." (219) Another instance: "You see Mr. Hill, I am getting call. It is from the Philippines. You know the SEA Games that are going on now. I am arranging all the matches. Laos only lost 1-0 to Singapore. Everyone thought that Singapore would win 3 - or 4 - 0. I control the Laos team I told them to go all out. I knew they could keep the score level." (218) "All the leagues in the world, EPL, Champions League, World Cup, they can be fixed. I had players on Crystal Palace, Wimbledon, and Liverpool. You say these are great teams? They are bull****. We can bribe them. You think because the clubs make big money in the transfer, that it means that the players won't take a bribe. That is not true. They will take the money." (221) and on and on it goes. That's not even talking about the OFFICIALS who are bribed. With women, money, etc: "The top German league is know as the Bundesliga...on November 26, 2005, Hannover...were playing...Kaiserslautern...Chin was claiming just before the match that Hannover would win by a score line of at least a two-goal difference. He did not say or reveal in any way how this result might be achieved whether it was a network of players or referees. He did say, in the course of the conversation, "some German referees are bad...I have referees that work for me in many places, U.S., Greece. Many places." (220) (Hannover ended up winning 5 - 1) Robert Hoyzer's name comes up. (220) "Last year for X [names a top Asian team]...the head of the team, phoned me. He paid me $300,000 so they could win a tournament...I fixed it so they could win." (221) I had a Grade 8 teacher who told me that he didn't watch soccer because of "all the politics and corruption". When I read about the AFC, FIFA, etc. and their links to Russian mobsters and Asian gangs, and betting outfits, it's hard to enjoy the beautiful game. Last night when Bernier missed that shot I had to wonder. Hill has a whole chapter explaining how various players (defense, midfielders, strikers) play their part to help fix the match. For midfielders it could be a mistimed tackle, a poor pass, etc. Sure it looks like the guy just screwed up. But what he's really doing is fixing the match for himself or for his coach. Who knows what sort of funny business is going on in the Gold Cup. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two officials in this tourny have been bribed. What do the rest of you think of this match fixing stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Although this article causes me to *eyeroll* at Asian "culture" once again, I think you are overreacting if you are finding it difficult to watch a match without thinking about this. This asswipe, Chin, who must have thought his penis grew a full inch to reach 1.5 inches total when making these confessions, when really it didn't, is making match-fixing sound like its a piece of cake. But of course its extremely difficult. Not only because you need big-time connections, but all the betting websites have built-in software to detect whenever unusual patterns of bets come in on a particular match. It's going to take alot of money to bribe a player who makes a good living. Which requires placing a huge bet to make the whole fix worthwhile. This would be pretty easy for the software to pick up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivaldo Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 quote:Originally posted by ottawaguy2009 Last night when Bernier missed that shot I had to wonder. Ha! There is a reason Bernier has only scored one goal for Canada in 39 games, and it's not because he's on the take. quote:Originally posted by ottawaguy2009 Who knows what sort of funny business is going on in the Gold Cup. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two officials in this tourny have been bribed. What do the rest of you think of this match fixing stuff? I think incompetence is a more likely explanation for the wrong calls in the Gold Cup. I doubt there is a lot of betting action on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolando Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I read the book as well - wasn't there a thread on this already? I thought it did a good job of showing how matches from the smallest leagues in the world all the way to the biggest of World Cup fixtures could be at risk of being tampered with. The Gold Cup is a perfect example because there are many games in the third round of the group stage that could easily have players that could be contacted and possibly convinced to throw games by match-fixers, potentially meaningless games from a number of points of view. As we saw with some of the odds for Canada at the start, a lot of bookies wouldn't know what to make of a crazy tournament like the Gold Cup, never mind all of the inconsistent countries and incomplete sides. Hill pointed out how some of the results most at risk are ones where results don't matter for at least one of the teams playing (duh) but also where there were few monetary rewards or little prestige available to players. These situations where you could lose your third game and play a minnow versus winning your third game and playing a side like Mexico don't help either. Countries with unstable governments like Honduras or FAs that aren't paying players (like T@T over the years) might be especially vulnerable to such an arrangement. And never let it be said that Canada is morally above such despicable behaviour - read the book for more details. Strange timing, ottawaguy, but your book recommendation is a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottawaguy2009 Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 A step in the right direction: http://tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=284707 New player transfer administrative system put forth by FIFA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottawaguy2009 Posted July 19, 2009 Author Share Posted July 19, 2009 Dear Abbey: My name is Canada. All through my younger years I was teased and picked on because I couldn't play soccer. The older kids on the playground, namely these two big bullies the US and Mexico, would always whoop my ass. Well, I started taking supplements, going to the gym, and working on my game. I passed through my teenage years and am now entering adult hood but am finding it impossible! to break into the world soccer fold as the principal (Mr. Warner) really seems to have it in for me. Whenever I stand up to the bullies he puts me in detention. I just can't seem to get ahead. What do I do? Signed, Canada phuck match fixing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Although this article causes me to *eyeroll* at Asian "culture" once again What part of this is about Asian culture...?[)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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