South African FA president suspended following match-fixing probe

PanARMENIAN.Net - The president of the South African Football Association and four leading officials have been suspended after FIFA found "compelling evidence" that friendly internationals were fixed by Far East betting syndicates, BBC News reported.

Kirsten Nematandani, new Safa chief executive officer Dennis Mumble and three others were relieved of their duties while an investigation takes place into their alleged part in the fixing of four matches in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup.

A FIFA investigation discovered that Safa was infiltrated by convicted Singaporean match-fixer Wilson Perumal and his Football 4U organization.

Perumal organized referees for the games against Thailand, Bulgaria, Colombia and Guatemala, the outcomes of which were found to have been pre-arranged to benefit an Asian betting syndicate.

A statement on the Safa website said the organization "accepted FIFA's report as received" and added that "a commission of enquiry will be set up, under the leadership of a retired judge, to fully investigate the matter and the members cited in the report".

The report added: "Safa apologized to FIFA and undertook to take the urgent and serious actions to deal with the matter."