Match-fixing charges brought against top Zimbabwe official 18/08/2010 |
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An internal tribunal of Zimbabwe's football federation has charged its suspended chief executive over allegations of match-fixing linked to Asian betting syndicates.
The federation released the charges after completing investigations into betting, bribery and corruption allegations against Henrietta Rushwaya relating to a Zimbabwean team tour of Malaysia in December.
The Zimbabwe team lost 6-0 to Syria and 3-0 to Thailand during the tournament.
The Zimbabwe Football Association alleged on Tuesday (August 17) that an official of the federation under Rushwaya's direct supervision arranged an unauthorised trip to Malaysia for an Asian betting syndicate.
"The team was paid to lose – to the obvious prejudice of the reputation of Zimbabwe as a soccer-playing nation and its ranking with the world soccer body Fifa," said the federation.
It claimed players masqueraded as members of the genuine national squad, known as the Warriors, and Rushwaya failed to intervene to stop the fraud.
The federation also alleged that without authority, Rushwaya signed a deal with Swiss-based company Kentaro A.G to bring the Brazil team to Harare for a high-profile friendly international against the Warriors two days before the opening of the World Cup in neighbouring South Africa in June.
Brazil won the match 3-0 but, according to the federation, it earned Zimbabwe nothing because the Brazilians demanded an appearance fee and under the deal, the Swiss company had been pledged all the gate takings at the 50,000-seat national sports stadium in Harare.
Rushwaya denies wrongdoing. Her attorneys were on Tuesday (August 17) awarded a postponement of the tribunal, an internal disciplinary committee, until September 1 to study the allegations.
Criminal charges could be lodged based on the findings of the hearing, which is effectively a trial before the federation's board members with powers only to fire her and demand a police prosecution before a court.
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