Join Now  | 
Home About Contact Us Privacy & Security Advertise
Soccer America Daily Special Edition Around The Net Soccer Business Insider College Soccer Reporter Youth Soccer Reporter Soccer on TV Soccer America Classifieds
Paul Gardner: SoccerTalk Soccer America Confidential Youth Soccer Insider World Cup Watch
RSS Feeds Archives Manage Subscriptions Subscribe
Order Current Issue Subscribe Manage My Subscription Renew My Subscription Gift Subscription
My Account Join Now
Tournament Calendar Camps & Academies Soccer Glossary Classifieds
Burkina Faso Coach Reflects on His Own Game-Fixing Ban
Guardian, February 6th, 2013 11:20AM
Subscribe to Section 2 Around the Net


MOST READ
TAGS:  african nations cup, belgium, china


For Burkina Faso coach Paul Put, who finds his team in the semifinal of the African Nations Cup against Ghana today, it was no great surprise that Europol should find evidence of game-fixing in as many as 380 games across Europe. Put is one of the few coaches to return to the game after having been banned for match-fixing. He served a three-year ban after being found guilty of fixing two games in 2005 as coach of Belgian club Lierse.

"Match-fixing has always existed insoccer," Put says. "If you look at cycling, at Lance Armstrong, it's always him who is pointed at but everybody was taking drugs. It's not that I've been doing match-fixing, not at all, but it has been declared in the media like this.” Put insists that like Armstrong, he has been branded a scapegoat. “You have to see what's going on in soccer,” he added. “There are a lot of big international players who are involved in match-fixing.”

In Put’s case, more than 40 people have been charged as part of a game-fixing ring organized by the Chinese businessman Ye Zheyun, but only one, Put himself, was suspended by the Belgian soccer federation ahead of the criminal trial, which might not come to court for another two years. "You know there are more than 40 people,” he said, adding that he felt threatened at the time: “The whole of Belgian soccer was sick … I was threatened by the mafia. My child was not safe. They threatened me with weapons and things like that. It's not nice to talk about these things but this is the reality."

Read the original story...


No comments yet.

Sign in to leave a comment. Don't have an account? Join Now


AUTHORS

ARCHIVES
FOLLOW SOCCERAMERICA

Recent Section 2 Around the Net
Lampard: Blues Fans Had Every Right to Criticize Benitez     
Chelsea vice captain Frank Lampard, who recently inked a one-year contract extension with the club, said ...
Report: Seedorf to Replace Allegri at Milan    
Following his end-of-season meeting with AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani, Massimiliano Allegri refused to confirm ...
Neymar off to Europe after Confed Cup?    
Neymar's transfer to somewhere in Europe appears imminent. According to reports in Spain and Brazil, the ...
Pellegrini Confirms Malaga Departure    
Manchester City target Manuel Pellegrini on Wednesday has confirmed that he will leave Mlaga at the ...
Report: Holden Gets Bolton Extension     
U.S. international Stuart Holden has agreed to a new one-year deal with current club Bolton Wanderers, ...
Report: Pulis Resigns as Stoke Manager    
Tony Pulis has resigned as Stoke City coach, according to reports in England. The 55-year-old Welshman ...
Ferguson Wins Fourth LMA Manager of the Year Award    
Alex Ferguson on Monday received his fourth League Managers' Association award for manager of the year. ...
Brighton Suspends Coach Following Excrement Incident    
Brighton coach Gus Poyet, assistant Mauricio Taricco and first-team coach Charlie Oatway were suspended on Monday ...
Report: Atletico Expects Falcao to Leave    
Over the past few weeks, Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao has been linked with moves to ...
Spain Says Adios to Mourinho    
Following the news on Monday that Jose Mourinho's three-year reign as Real Madrid coach will end ...
>> Section 2 Around the Net Archives