Fifa has asked German magazine Der Spiegel to hand over all the
documents it says it has regarding the claims of convicted match-fixer
Wilson Raj Perumal that Cameroon players threw their World Cup group
games.
Fifa has refused to make any comment regarding the allegations that some
Cameroon players fixed the results of their three Group A matches,
which all ended in defeat, nor would it confirm or deny it was
investigating the claims.
Ralf Mutschke, Fifa's head of security, cast doubt on Perumal's claims
on Wednesday and said the ruling body wanted to see what proof Der
Spiegel had.
"Fifa has substantial doubts about the allegations published by Der Spiegel," he said in a statement.
"As such Fifa has asked Der Spiegel to provide us with all the
communications with Perumal and any other material they claim to possess
in order to prove the allegations they have made in public.
"This article has put the integrity of the Fifa World Cup matches in question which is a serious allegation.
"We have carefully monitored all 56 games to date and we will continue
to monitor the remaining eight matches. So far we have found no
indication of any manipulation on the betting market of any World Cup
matches."
The Cameroon FA said on Monday that it was to investigate claims of
match-fixing by their players, especially the game against Croatia which
they lost 4-0.
Perumal, a convicted match-fixer, has subsequently denied Der Spiegel's
claims that he predicted the result of the match before it took place or
that a Cameroon player would be sent off before halftime, which is what
happened.
In a statement issued on his behalf by the company publishing his
memoirs, Perumal said he made his comments three days after the match
and not before it took place.
The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), which works closely
with Fifa and police on match-fixing and related security issues, said
on Tuesday there were no suspicious betting patterns.
"The advice we have received from the legal or so-called 'regulated'
sport betting industry is that there was no observable suspicious
betting on this match," the ICSS said.
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