On Wednesday, FIFA has expressed significant doubts about the claims of a German magazine regarding alleged match-fixing at a World Cup game. The world soccer body has reportedly asked Der Spiegel to surrender evidence to back up its controversial report about an infamous match-fixer who had predicted details of the match between Croatia and Cameroon hours before it had kicked off, the Associated Press reported.
FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer read out a statement by FIFA director of security Ralf Mutschke at a briefing at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, which said, "The article has put the integrity of FIFA World Cup matches in question, which is a serious allegation."
"As mentioned on various occasions, FIFA has carefully monitored all 56 games to date and will continue to monitor the remaining eight matches of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. So far, we have found no indication of any match manipulation on the betting market," Mutschke's statement added.
AP said that suspicious betting activity surrounding a match is an indication that the game has been fixed for illegal gambling syndicates. The game-fixing involves an unusually large amount of money put on bet or wagers are placed at unusual times during the match or on specific happenings, like a red card issuance during the first half for example.
On the other hand, FIFA acknowledges the fact that there has been so such things around the match between Cameroon and Croatia or any other game in the tournament in Brazil. FIFA reportedly has access to information from hundreds of betting operators worldwide via its Zurich-based EWS, or "Early Warning System."
Der Spiegal has since responded to AP's requests for comment about their story by reporter Rafael Buschmann and said, "We firmly stand by our assertion that Mr Perumal wrote in a Facebook chat with der Spiegel some hours before the world cup match Croatia vs Cameroon, that the result of the match will be a 4-0-victory for Croatia and that a player of Cameroon will get a red card in the first halftime."
