NEW DELHI: The All India Football Federation’s integrity officer Javed Siraj on Thursday stressed on AIFF’s zero tolerance policy towards any match fixing allegations or any corruption related to the sport.
Siraj who has been an integrity officer with AIFF heading its anti-corruption unit since August 2014 as per the FIFA guidelines, felt the need of the hour is to “jointly combat any threats which can bring disrepute to the sport”.
“We have been conducting regular educative and awareness workshops with the various Clubs and even various age-group National Teams on a regular basis. This time too prior to the kick-off of the Hero I-League we met majority of the clubs making them aware as what needs to be done in case of any crisis,” he said.
“We always pay emphasis on the Three R-s – Recognise, Reject and Report. Our aim is to protect the players and the officials and protect from the malice of manipulation,” he added.
Referring to reports about Minerva Punjab Football Club footballers being approached by external forces Siraj stated: “I need to applaud the two footballers who recognised, rejected and reported the incident. We await an official complaint from the Club and will leave no stone unturned to protect the integrity of football,” he clarified.
“Very recently, the Asian Football Confederation has launched an app on integrity wherein any team member can directly pass on information regarding approach,” he stated.
Meanwhile, AIFF general secretary Kushal Das on Thursday said he would initiate an investigation into the alleged match-fixing attempt once the federation receives details of it in writing.
Das’ comments came after Minerva Punjab owner Ranjeet Bajaj had taken to his official Twitter account to reveal that two of his team players were offered Rs 3 million each for match-fixing.
“Two of my players came to me with screenshots of match-fixing offers of 30 lakhs/I reported it to AIFF integrity officer & also AFC through their integrity app/really hope these unscrupulous elements are not successful in getting through to other players and match officials @ILeagueOfficial,” Bajaj wrote.
