After early exit, Cameroon players to be probed over fixing claims
RIO DE JANEIRO: Cameroon’s football federation said it will investigate allegations of match-fixing by its team at the World Cup and the possible existence of “seven bad apples” in the squad.
Fecafoot said in a statement late on Monday it had instructed its own ethics committee to open an investigation, although it added it had not yet been contacted by Fifa, the sport’s global governing body.
Cameroon were eliminated after losing all three of their group-stage matches at the World Cup: 1-0 to Mexico, 4-0 to Croatia and 4-1 to Brazil.
“Recent allegations of fraud around Cameroon’s three 2014 FIFA World Cup preliminary games, especially Cameroon vs. Croatia, as well as the ‘existence of seven bad apples (in our national team)’ do not reflect the values and principles promotes by our administration in line with the FIFA Code of Conduct and the ethics of our nation,” Fecafoot said in the statement.
Fifa refused to confirm that any investigation was ongoing by its security department, which should take the lead in any probe of a World Cup match.
The match-fixing allegations stemmed from comments convicted match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal allegedly made in a Facebook conversation with German magazine Der Spiegel before the Cameroon-Croatia match in Manaus on June 18.
The magazine said Perumal, a Singaporean with ties to Asian and Eastern European gambling syndicates, had accurately predicted the result of the Croatia match and that Cameroon would have a player sent off in the first half. Cameroon midfielder Alex Song was sent off for striking Mario Mandzukic in the back.