March 10 – Zimbabwe has become embroiled in another match-fixing scandal after its national football association (ZIFA) provisionally suspended one of its own board members pending further investigation.
ZIFA alleges that Edzai Kasinauyo (pictured) was part of a syndicate trying to fix the country’s upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifier against Swaziland. The game is scheduled for March 25 and ZIFA said it had evidence Kasinauyo was working with other unnamed people to rig it.
“The suspension has been occasioned by allegations of match fixing ahead of the 2017 African Nations Cup qualifier match between Zimbabwe and Swaziland,” ZIFA said. “Kasinauyo has been mentioned in the match-fixing scam and investigations are going on.
“ZIFA president Phillip Chiyangwa will issue a statement after consultations with COSAFA, CAF, FIFA and the government of Zimbabwe.”
Kasinauyo, elected to the ZIFA executive committee in December and part of his country’s squad at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, has denied the allegations, saying he was “just as shocked as everyone else as to where this is coming from.”
“I have not made any contact with anyone in Asia about the match and to make matters worse, I have learnt about those allegations from people that have seen the statement,” he told local media.
Zimbabwe was rocked by a match-fixing scandal in 2012 in which 13 players were banned for life and another 69 received suspensions for their part in what became known as Asiagate.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) said it would liaise with FIFA to “activate the mechanisms necessary” to ensure no other Nations Cup qualifiers were open to manipulation.
CAF’s director of communication Junior Binyam told the BBC: “It’s a critical matter, and a threat for the game – not only for Africa but for the whole world. Match-fixing is probably the biggest cancer in the game today.”
Swaziland and Zimbabwe are top of Africa Nations Cup qualification Group L on four points after two games, with the winners gaining automatic entry to next year’s tournament in Gabon.
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