The AFC supports fight against match-fixing

The Asian Football Confederation has noted the recently released reports of Europol on match-fixing in football and would like to announce the confederation's support to Europol in its investigations.

Though no formal contact to the AFC has been made so far from any organisation, the AFC is fully prepared to support institutions in the fight against match-fixing and illegal betting in football.

"We are closely following the news reports which have suggested that Asia is one of the continents where the suspicious matches took place," said AFC General Secretary Dato' Alex Soosay.

"AFC has a zero-tolerance policy towards unethical practices in football and we are determined to fight against any kind of irregularities that include and are not limited to match-fixing, corruption and illegal betting in the game," Dato' Alex added.

"Our endeavour to wipe out corruption continues and the confederation is proactively organising events to fight corruption and match-fixing in the continent," he further added.

The AFC is co-hosting a two-day conference in association with FIFA and INTERPOL in Kuala Lumpur on February 20 and 21 on training, education and prevention initiative of match-fixing and corruption.

Representatives from AFC's Member Associations, government, betting industry and law enforcement have been invited to attend the 'INTERPOL International Conference – Match Fixing: The Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game'.

AFC to co-host INTERPOL conference

The Asian Football Confederation will co-host an INTERPOL conference against match fixing and corruption in football to be organised in the Malaysian capital on February 20/21, 2013 for the Asian region.

Representatives from AFC member associations, government, betting industry and law enforcement will be invited to attend the 'INTERPOL International Conference – Match Fixing: The Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game' which is organised with active support from FIFA, AFC and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The conference, organised under the INTERPOL/FIFA Training, Education and Prevention Initiative, aims to

- Improve knowledge and understanding of the global threat from match fixing and irregular/illegal betting and its immense impact at the national level, what the current tactics used by criminals to initiate match fixing in football are, and likely trends in the future;

- Identify current good practices and innovative ways to prevent match fixing and corruption in football and more effectively protect the future of the ‘beautiful game’, and,

- Further encourage global, regional and national bodies associated with football to work together more effectively in partnerships, regularly sharing information and taking action to prevent match fixing.

The INTERPOL's series of conferences kicked off in Rome on January 17/18 for the European region preceded by a regional conference for the United States of America and Canada in New York City on January 24/25.

Head of INTERPOL's Integrity in Sport unit Michaela Ragg was quoted as saying that the conference provides 'a strong base to further advance the collective fight against match fixing'.

"By bringing together representatives from the widest possible range of organisations involved in combating match fixing, the conference provided an opportunity to share expertise and identify best practice to ensure that we all move forward together in tackling this global problem," Ragg said.