Soccer
Blatter: Most cases dealt with
2013-02-07 20:08
Nouakchott - Most
allegations of match-fixing raised by Europol this week had already
been dealt with, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Thursday.
"Most
of the matches which they put in this tray, 600 or 800, have already
been analyzed, dealt with and even were at court," Blatter told
reporters during a visit to Mauritania.
At
Europol's briefing in the Netherlands on Monday, the police liaison
agency said it knew of 380 suspicious matches played in Europe in recent
years and 300 more worldwide, including national team matches under
FIFA's jurisdiction.
Europol
did not identify matches it suspected were corrupted, fuelling
widespread speculation about which teams were involved and if fresh
allegations had been uncovered.
Blatter
acknowledged that match-fixing for illegal betting scams was "pure
delinquency" which presented a serious danger to the sport.
"We're
fighting against that," Blatter said in French. "Because if the matches
are fixed there's no more interest in going to watch football."
Blatter also told reporters that countries should change their laws to help football prosecute match-fixing cases.
He
spoke a day after FIFA launched a website for whistleblowers to report
suspicions of fixing and corruption in its 209 member nations.
The
FIFA leader visited Mauritania on a tour of African countries before
attending the Cup of Nations final Sunday in Johannesburg, South Africa.