FIFA BELIEVES THAT a growing number of young footballers are being “trafficked” by criminal gangs to assist in lucrative match-fixing schemes, according to a report in this morning’s Independent.
Robin Scott-Elliot writes that “agents” arrange for young players from vulnerable backgrounds to be transferred to clubs in European and South American lower leagues, before pressuring them to “throw” games in return.
Speaking to the Independent, FIFA’s head of security Chris Eaton said that although the evidence was anecdotal at present, these organised criminal gangs constituted “a real and present danger to the sanctity and ethics of sport.”
