The Professional Footballers’ Association of Peru has called for an investigation into match-fixing in League 1 games.
Safap – Peru’s Professional Footballers Association – called on the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF) to launch an investigation into performance in League 1 games due to suspicions of manipulation for sports betting purposes.
Safap president Roberto Silva Pró raised concerns about possible corruption, including alleging that a player had been threatened with a gun.
Callao-based club Academia Cantolao, known primarily for its youth team, has also raised concerns about its players’ corruption in betting.
Safap stated: “We have been running a campaign (not only internally, but also in the media) with our members about match-fixing and sports betting for some time.”
Adding that: “They are aware of the consequences of participating in these types of activities. They know they could be excluded from football forever.”
Colombian player Mario Tajima, who plays for Academia Cantolao, told the media that there is a sports betting mafia in the country.
He said: “It is known that there is a mafia that has been operating for a long time. It’s not my place to mention names, but it’s time for a change.”
The player concludes: “I hope what happened in Bolivia doesn’t happen to us. It’s not just the players. There are people elsewhere who are responsible.”
Manipulation of results in football does not only occur in Peru
Elsewhere in South America, Chile‘s government ordered sports entities to respect a Supreme Court ruling that clarifies that online gaming is currently illegal.
The Supreme Court ordered the government to block access to online gaming sites earlier this month after state-owned lottery and betting operator Polla Chilena de Beneficencia filed a complaint against the activity, which it says is harmful to its business.
In Bolivia, the local football federation chose to suspend the entire national championship on suspicion of match-fixing. The Bolivian Football Federation asked Conmebol – the main sports entity in South America – to hold another short-throw competition to replace its league.
