Football: South Africa friendlies were fixed, says Fifa

Fifa says it has ‘compelling evidence’ regarding one or more friendly matches that they deemed fixed before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa began, according to Metro.

This was reported after Fifa probed into match-fixing accusations before the tournament started, finding damaging evidence. There were suspicions over several of the friendly fixtures, including South Africa’s 4-0 win against Thailand, and their 1-1 draw against Bulgaria. “The Fifa report addresses the question as to whether one or more of the pre-World Cup friendly matches was fixed and finds compelling evidence that this was indeed the case,” said a South African Football Association spokesman.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2012.