CAPE TOWN, March 5 (Reuters) – South Africa were
duped into allowing an Asian match fixing syndicate to provide
them with referees for a series of warm-up games before they
hosted the 2010 World Cup, FIFA security chief Chris Eaton said
on Monday.
It follows a four-day visit to the country by Eaton to look
into newspaper allegations that the results of friendlies
involving the host country ahead of the finals were fixed.
Eaton, in a statement released by the South African Football
Association, said there was no evidence any of the South African
players were part of the alleged deceit.
The revelations come as a further embarrassment to the
embattled association, whose national team last year failed to
qualify for the African Nations Cup finals because they did not
understand the rules.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Mark Meadows)
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