European football’s governing body UEFA has reiterated its stance to impose stiffer sanctions on those found guilty of match-fixing.
It intends to impose an 11-point plan designed to map out the menace on all 54 European football associations.
This week Blackburn striker DJ Campbell was one of the six people arrested over allegations of fixing in UK football.
The arrests were made following a story in the Sun Newspaper on Sunday in which ex-Portsmouth player Sam Sodje told an undercover reporter he could arrange yellow and red cards in exchange for cash. All six were bailed after the arrest
Also this month, two none-league footballers, Michael Boateng and Hakeem Adelakun, both 22 and played for Whitehawk FC based in Brighton, were charged with conspiracy defraud as part of of an investigation by the national Crime Agency into match-fixing in the UK. The two players, formerly playing in the Conference South were sacked by their club.
“It is important that all over Europe there is as uniform an approach as possible against it (match-fixing),” said general secretary Gianni Infantino following meeting of Uefa’s executive committee in the Spanish City of Bilbao.
Earlier this season, Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Metalist Kharkiv were all banned from European competitions for match-fixing.
Infantino however did not give details of the 11-point plan but added: “It cannot be that in one country you have one sanction, and another one in a different country for the same offence which goes straight into the soul of football.
“One match fixed is one match too many and we have to fight against this in the most efficient way.
The draft will be sent to the 54 domestic associations, calling on them to agree consistent proposals to put before the UEFA Congress in Astana, Kazakhstan in March for approval.
