Wednesday, 6th February, 2013
Burkina Faso coach Paul Put is not surprised by the recent match-fixing revelations in football, but dreads to think how far entrenched it is in the sport.
European police organisation EUROPOL recently released the results of their 18-month investigation into match-fixing in football, identifying 680 matches worldwide that they believe were affected, with 380 of those in Europe. Even games in the Champions League and qualifiers for the World Cup and European Championship have been tainted.
Put is not surprised, but he is concerned.
"Unfortunately, there is match-fixing in all sports, that is the reality", he told the AFP.
"But to tell the truth, the problem is worse than the world thinks it is in football.
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"If you see it in the Champions League, imagine what it’s like in the championships."
Put however is confident that the game’s governing bodies have a shot at eliminating the scourge of match-fixing.
"FIFA is working hard on it, it will be difficult, but I think we can get rid of it."
Put has prior involvement in match-fixing, having been banned for three years by the Belgian footballing authorities for his involvement while in charge of Lierse.
The coach has always maintained that he was forced to take part and was threatened at gun-point by criminal gangs.
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