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Match fixing still an issue in football

ligpuan new author
Roar Rookie
7th March, 2012
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ligpuan new author
Roar Rookie
7th March, 2012
8

When the first football game was played in Britain 150 years ago, it was pure football: no referee, no bad words, no racism and no match fixing.

Years passed, the game improved, the audience and money increased. Competition is now sky high. This brought some big challenges and problems to the game.

Regulations got stricter and stricter due to unwanted events like hooliganism and riots. In some cases, this has helped minimise these problems.

However one serious problem remains: match fixing.

One example of this is Marseille. In 1993, l’affaire VA-OM happened and Marseille President Bernard Tapie was found guilty of match fixing against Valenciennes. The team was relegated to the second division and pushed out of other year’s UEFA and FIFA organisations.

In 2006, the biggest match fixing scandal in football history occurred in Italy. Juventus was demoted to the Serie B and were deducted 17 points. Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina started the next season in Serie A with minus points.

These were only two sample match fixing events, which are known by every football fan all over the world. There have been thousands of other examples, some coming off, and some not.

We are all lovers of sport. Whether basketball, football or tennis, the most important things are competitive, challenging and entertaining games.

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Of course, everybody wants to win but it must be done legally. I don’t think that a real sports fan would want an undeserved triumph, even in a rivalry or a final.

“NBA Cares”, “UEFA Respect”, “Unicef”, “FIFA Football for Hope” are just some examples of good sports organisations. Similar style organisations need to become actively involved in preventing match fixing.

A level-playing field is essential to the success of any sport.

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