football's dark side how to fix a football match

8/12/2019 Football's Dark Side How to Fix a Football Match

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Football's dark side: how to fix a football match

Undercover footage from Channel 4 Dispatches exposes a match agent from

Ghana offering to fix an international football game.

Object1 The tail end of rush hour on a Central London street and we're trying to hide

a TV crew. You'd think technology would make that slightly easier but not on

this job.

There's a 6ft-something cameraman a lens of seemingly similar

!ro!ortions a fidgety soundman with his boom and micro!hone and !lenty

of other !eo!le dotted around ho!ing things will go to !lan.

"e are all waiting for a sil#er Toyota. $lightly behind schedule it arri#es at

!recisely the same time the #an concealing the crew dri#es away - we are

there for all to see. %owe#er the smartly dressed men e&it the car !ay no

attention to us and take their seats at the table in a nearby swanky hotel.

It is the billions of bets flowing through Asia that experts say are ey to

these sorts of fixes

The two belie#e they are here for a business meeting with a global s!orts
http://www.channel4.com/news/ghana-match-fix-dispatches-international-friendlyhttp://www.channel4.com/news/ghana-match-fix-dispatches-international-friendly


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in#estor. They are e&!ecting a down !ayment of thirty thousand !ounds but

this is in fact the end of a si& month longis!atches in#estigationand

these are the men who ha#e been offering to hel! fi& a football match

in#ol#ing a team !laying in the "orld Cu!.

!irst contact

Christo!her (orsythe is a (ifa licensed match agent and )bed *ketiah is the

chief e&ecuti#e of the to! league +hanaian club ,erekum Chelsea and a

committee member of the national /s side.

)ur first contact was with (orsythe we'd encountered him through a

!re#ious is!atches and he didn't waste too much time offering to hel! fi&

matches for +hana's national team.

The business model is !retty clear0 become a third !arty s!onsor organise

an international friendly ensure we choose the refs then a!!oint one we
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQntuE_lqx0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQntuE_lqx0


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can bung to fi& the result our way. You can make a lot of money on a match

through the gambling markets when you know the result.

1t is the billions of bets flowing through 2sia that e&!erts say are key to

these sorts of fi&es. (orsythe thinks he's talking to the re!resentati#e of a

grou! of (ar 3ast in#estors with a keen interest in gambling but in reality

the man is Terry $teans a former (ifa match-fi&ing in#estigator and now an

underco#er re!orter for is!atches.

1n one of their first meetings (orsythe tells $teans about how a 'bought'

referee can order a s!ecific result for the 2sian betting markets0 4You can

decide for them tell the officials look something is ha!!ening in (ar 3ast

on this match so we want it 5- in fa#our of the o!!osition. 2nd then they

will make it ha!!en.4

"I am not the one"

The whole !lan seems to centre around corru!ting a (ifa referee and during

one of the meetings $tean tries to find out if the result will be guaranteed

once the money has been handed o#er. (orsythe res!onds0 4That is why we

will get the officials that we ha#e greased their !alms so that they will do

it the way we want it.4


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1t was the months of gathered information like this that took us to the

moment in a London hotel room when we would ask )bed *ketiah and

Christo!her (orsythe to e&!lain themsel#es.

2s the crew walked in (orsythe and *ketiah chose not to stand and lea#e

but to sit and talk.

(orsythe declared that he was totally blameless in the situation and the

4running4 had been done by our underco#er re!orter0 41 am not the one 1

am not on the field 1 am not the one !laying so how can you tell me that 1

can decide the scores of the game4

(orsythe added that he ne#er had any !lans to bribe anyone and his whole

!lan was fictitious.


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Obed Nketiah told us that he was involved in the meetings with our covert reporter just

to help organise matches and he knew nothing of any plan to bribe referees .

Our interview finished and Forsythe and Nketiah left for Heathrow but the questioning

hasn't stopped the !hana Football "ssociation has asked the country's police to look

in to the conduct of the two men

football's dark side how to fix a football match

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