ZIFA: Players resisting corruption probe

Zimbabwe football administrators said Sunday players who do not cooperate in a long-running investigation into match-fixing will be fined up to $10,000 under international rules covering the sport.

Retired Judge Ahmed Ebrahim, heading a probe team formed by the Zimbabwe Football Association, said Sunday some players and their local clubs are resisting inquiries into corruption on Asian tours.

Close to 100 players and officials have been suspended over allegations they accepted money from a betting syndicate to throw matches in Asia.

Zimbabwean teams lost 2-0 to Jordan, 3-0 to Thailand and 6-0 to Syria in Malaysia in 2009.

Ebrahim said that under the rules of the world governing body, FIFA, players are required to cooperate with investigators.

He said his disciplinary committee has gathered files and reports indicating those who were involved in criminal activities.

''We have a large base of knowledge of who participated and we may already be satisfied with who has done what,'' Ebrahim said. ''We have a good idea of the ring leaders ... the investigation must be thorough and impartial. There are very serious implications for individual players and officials, as well as for ZIFA itself, for the game of football and Zimbabwe's reputation.''

The committee's hearings are being held behind closed doors to follow FIFA standards and protect innocent witnesses.

Ebrahim said preliminary hearings have indicated about 30 players may be exonerated.

''The final decision as to guilt and punishment rests with ZIFA and FIFA,'' he said.

He added that there was no deadline for the probe to complete its work.

''We will be acting wrongly if we did a rushed job,'' Ebrahim said.

Former ZIFA chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya, named as the mastermind in the match-fixing scandal known locally as ''Asiagate,'' appeared in court in February on corruption and fraud charges. She was freed on bail.

It is alleged Rushwaya used feared secret agents connected to the country's longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe to manipulate players and coaches on the Asian tours.

Zimbabwean players have testified how money changed hands in dressing rooms at matches linked to betting agents of Wilson Raj Perumal, a Singaporean who is in jail in Finland for match-fixing.