Over the last couple weeks, news circulated surrounding the fine given to Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham over his critical comments of referee Felix Zwayer, in the derby match versus Bayern Munich. Bellingham stated in a post-match interview following his club’s defeat that it was not surprising that the game unfolded as it did. “You give a referee, that has match-fixed before, the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?” said an very annoyed Bellingham, offering clear suggestion of what he thought about the ref’s performance that day.
Bellingham’s comments, while deemed to be unsportsmanlike by the German Football Association, were not unfounded as referee Felix Zawyer had been implicated in a 2005 match fixing scandal where he agreed to make incorrect decisions in exchange for financial gain. Following this, the German Football Association, handed Felix a six-month ban. Match fixing has been around for years and this is yet another manifestation of the the dark side of football leaving many spectators fearing for the continuity of fairness and honest competition.
WHAT EXACTLY IS MATCH FIXING
A normal football game must have a final score – win, draw or loss. Match fixing is where a referee, player, coach or football club illegally influences that result in exchange for payment. They can do this for instance by deliberately allowing a goal to score or any other action that would sabotage the integrity of the game.
HOW DOES IT WORK
For example, imagine a team sitting at the top of a league table for an entire season coming up against the team at the bottom. Let’s say this bottom ranked team also has many injured first team players and are weaker than they already are. The coach of the first ranked team organizes a deal with a gambling company whereby the coach will earn massive profit once his team draws the game. The game draws and the coach receives payment.
WHERE HAS IT BEEN SEEN
Referees are entrusted to uphold the values of fairness and integrity in a football game. They have majority of control over the flow of a game as well as the possible outcome. Take for instance German referee, Robert Hoyzer, who admitted to match fixing and attempting to illegally fix a series of games because of bribes given to him by betting syndicates. Hoyzer received a lifetime ban following this revelation.
Players are also in strategic positions to engage in match fixing given that they themselves determine the result of a game. Players, like managers, have also received lifetime bans. One of these was South Korean forward Choi Sung-kuk. He received a suspended prison sentence and a lifetime ban from the Korean football league. His ban was extended to all member football associations of FIFA which in essence ended his football career.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld UEFA’s lifetime ban on Aleksander Zabrcanec, president of FK Pobeda, for instructing his club to lose to secure monetary compensation from a bet placed. The club was allegedly in a financial crisis at the time and Zabrcanec claimed that his actions were necessary to help the club out of this crisis. It is also alleged that during his halftime team talk he told his players that anything but a loss will see his life and house in danger.
Match fixing is something that must be ridded from football as it may lead spectators to question every extraordinary or surprising event. If continued, fans will undoubtedly question every difficult decision made by match officials, especially in big games. Match fixing robs football of its unpredictability while demonstrating an uglier side to the beautiful game. In the words of ex-president of UEFA, Michel Platini, “If tomorrow, we go watch a game already knowing the outcome, football is dead.”
