FIFA, Interpol unveil e-learning tools to fight match manipulation

FIFA and INTERPOL have launched a series of e-learning programmes aimed at educating players, coaches and referees on the dangers of match manipulation to help them avoid becoming victims of this threat to football integrity. The online programmes, each focusing on a different group often targeted by match-fixers, offer an interactive guide on how to recognise, resist and report attempts at match-fixing and related issues. The programmes are available in five languages (Arabic, English, French, Spanish and German) on both the FIFA and INTERPOL websites. FIFA Security Director Ralf Mutschke says that the programmes represent a key deliverable of the FIFA/INTERPOL initiative, which aims to improve awareness and understanding of corruption in football, and the methods to detect and counteract it. “FIFA and INTERPOL are placing huge importance on combatting match manipulation as it continues to threaten the integrity of football,” said Mutschke. “One of the keys to success is raising awareness within the football community and providing educational tools for the people most at risk of being influenced by match-fixers. For the first time, football has a widely accessible resource that presents match manipulation-related issues in a practical, targeted and visually stimulating way.” The e-learning modules are highly interactive, using quizzes, games and audio-visual elements helping to emphasise the key messages. Real-life scenarios are also incorporated to help users more easily identify the tactics that match-fixers might use to pressure them into manipulating a match. “With the launch of our comprehensive e-learning modules, the football community now has a tool to help protect the sport against threats posed by organised criminal networks which seek to make an illegal profit through match manipulation,” said Michaela Ragg, Assistant Director of INTERPOL’s Integrity in Sport unit.  “By educating the players, coaches and referees who are at high risk of being coerced into fixing a match, we hope the e-learning programmes will equip them with the knowledge and ability to resist these approaches and protect the integrity of the sport,” she concluded. The programmes are designed to be used by FIFA’s member associations as part of their existing integrity training, or as standalone training programmes. They form part of a wider effort to preserve football from the growing threat of match-fixing. FIFA and INTERPOL agreed a ten-year joint initiative in May 2011 to enhance global efforts to tackle match manipulation and corruption in the sport. As part of the initiative, INTERPOL has organised more than 11 Integrity in Sport workshops in all regions of the world, with support from FIFA. Information sessions are held in advance of all FIFA tournaments, and an anonymous hotline has been created for people to report tips or suspicious activity. In addition, INTERPOL has also coordinated major conferences bringing together football associations, betting companies, gambling regulatory authorities and law enforcement to tackle the issues related to corruption in football and its links to organised crime.

Cheaper tickets

More great news for football fans in the on-going 41^st Merdeka Tournament in Kuantan!

The Football Association of Malaysia is offering a further reduction in ticket prices for matches at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan and Temerloh Stadium for the Merdeka Tournament - Asia’s most prestigious tournament.

Tickets for the match between Malaysia and Thailand at the Darul Makmur Stadium on Wednesday, September 11, 2013 (kick-off 8.45pm), are priced at RM20 (free seating) and RM50 (grand stand).

However, tickets for the Myanmar versus Singapore match (kick-off 8.45pm) on Wednesday, September, 11, 2013, at the Temerloh Stadium are available at RM20 (free seating) and RM25 (grand stand).

The prices of tickets for the final on Saturday, September 14, 2013, at the Darul Makmur Stadium will remain at RM20 (free seating) and RM50 for grand stand.

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) general-secretary Dato’ Hamidin Haji Mohd Amin, said the decision to further reduce ticket prices is to allow fans, particularly those residing in Kuantan and neighbouring towns to support the national team.

 

“Malaysia have already qualified for the final and having discussed with our commercial partners, we have agreed to reduce ticket pricings to give an opportunity to fans to come and support  Malaysia tomorrow in the last group match at the Darul  Makmur stadium and also in the final,” said Dato’ Hamidin in Kuantan., Tuesday (10 Sept).

Malaysia 0 Jordan 1

A well-taken freekick from Shahnaz Yaseen Mahmoud Jebreen gave Jordan a 1-0 win over Malaysia as they took the lead in Group A of the AFF Aya Bank Women’s Championship here at the Youth Training Centre in Yangon, Monday (9 Sept).

In an evenly contested affair, the Jordanian girls scored the only goal of the game off Shahnaz Yaseen eight minutes to the end.

Both teams showed quality to play good attacking football with Malaysia the better side in the first half as they hit the post twice off Angela Kais and Dadree Rofinus.

Jordan replied with a freekick from Yasmeen Salim Khair two minutes after the restart which forced a scrambling save from Malaysia’s Asma Junaidi.

A minute later Nosuraini Mazli should have given Malaysia the lead but despite being unchallenged, she blasted the ball straight to Jordan keeper Zina Al Sadi.

The change for Shahnaz in place of Abeer Mahmoud Alnahar in the 80^th minute gave Jordan more pace and just two minutes later, she put them in front with a superb freekick to beat Asma for the full points.

RESULTS – Group A

Thailand 0 Vietnam 0

Jordan 1 Malaysia 0

Group A Current Standings

Teams	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
JORDAN	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	3
VIETNAM	1	0	1	0	0	0	=	1
THAILAND	1	0	1	0	0	0	=	1
MALAYSIA	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0
AUSTRALIA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Wrestling back to Olympics

In the latest step in the process of evaluating and refining the Olympic Programme, the sport of wrestling was elected today as an additional sport for the Summer Olympic Games of 2020 and 2024.

The decision was made at the 125th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after the full membership of the IOC agreed on the 25 sports that will form the core for the 2020 Games, awarded yesterday to the city of Tokyo.

The Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) made a presentation to the Session, along with the International Federations of baseball/softball (WBSC) and squash (WSF), all shortlisted by the IOC Executive Board in May following an extensive evaluation by the Olympic Programme Commission. The IOC members voted for wrestling with a simple majority of votes cast in the first round.

“I would like to offer my congratulations to the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge. “Wrestling has shown great passion and resilience in the last few months. They have taken a number of steps to modernise and improve their sport, including the addition of more women and athletes in decision-making positions; rule changes to make the sport more exciting and easy to understand; and an increase in the number of women’s competitions. We are pleased with their reaction and happy to have wrestling on the Olympic programme in 2020 and 2024.”

In order to control the size, cost and complexity of the Games, the Olympic Programme was capped in 2002 at 28 sports, approximately 300 events and a target of 10,500 athletes. It was also decided that a systematic review of the Olympic Programme would be conducted after every edition of the Games to provide regular rejuvenation of the Games while maintaining continuity and consistency. The concept of a core group of 25 sports with a maximum of three additional sports was adopted in 2007, and two years later golf and rugby sevens were added to the programme of the Rio 2016 and the 2020 Olympic Games.

Results of vote:Wrestling: 49Baseball/ softball: 24Squash: 22

Park charts Myanmar's fortunes

Former South Korean striker-turned-coach Park Sung Hwa will chart Myanmar’s fortunes in the 41^st edition of the Merdeka Tournament which begins from September 7-14 in Kuantan, Pahang.

The 25-member Myanmar squad, captain by Kyaw Zayer Min, arrived in Kuantan together with the Singapore and Thailand team on Thursday for one of Asia’s most prestigious football tournaments held at the Darul Makmur Stadium.

Myanmar won the Merdeka Tournament three times, emerged runners-up on four occasions and shared the trophy once since the inception of the tournament in 1957, the last being in 2006 following a 2-1 victory over Indonesia in the final.

Appointed by Myanmar FA in 2011, Park has been tasked with coaching both the senior and junior national teams to turn the country’s football fortunes around and has succeeded to a certain extent. Myanmar won the bronze medal in the 2011 Sea Games and reached the semi-finals of the Under-19 and Under-16 AFF Championships.

The 58-year-old Park, however, is no stranger to the Merdeka Tournament, having first featured for the senior team alongside South Korea’s other famous footballers - Cha Bum-Kun and Kim Jae Han - in the 1975 final against Malaysia which the Koreans won 1-0 at Merdeka Stadium.

Earlier in the preliminary round of the 1975 Merdeka tournament, Park also scored a goal in South Korea’s 3-1 win over the host’s star-studded squad which included Mokhtar Dahari, goalkeeper R. Arumugam, defenders Soh Chin Aun and Santokh Singh. He also featured in the finals of the 1977 and 1978 Merdeka Tournament against Iraq, winning the trophy on both occasions.

Meanwhile Thailand and Singapore are strong contenders too for the Merdeka Tournament, naming formidable squads when registration closed on August 31.

Thailand Football Association General-Secretary, Worawi Makudi, disclosed that the 20 players who will feature in the 2013 Merdeka Tournament were selected from the recent National Championships and will carry Thailand’s hopes in the Merdeka Tournament.

“We appreciate and thank the Football Association of Malaysia for inviting us to this historical tournament after a lapse of five years. The Merdeka Tournament and Thailand’s King’s Cup are Asia’s longest surviving tournaments,” said Worawi.

  

“We are serious contenders to win the Merdeka Tournament,” he added.

Singapore coach V. Sundramoorthy has also named a squad of 22 players that will be in Kuantan - build around the experience of 16 members from the successful Lions XII that stormed to the Malaysian Super League title this season.

With Izwan Mahbud's safe pair of hands, and the attacking threats from the likes of Faris Ramli, Fazli Ayob and Nazrul Ahmad Nazari; along with the silky skills of forward Shahfiq Ghani, much is expected of Sundramoorthy's side.

Most of the players are already well-drilled in the style and a system that has seen them become the first Singaporean team to lift a Malaysian domestic trophy since a Fandi Ahmad-led Singapore team won the League and Malaysia Cup double in 1994. 

And now they are out to make heads turn in the Merdeka Tournament.

Delia Fischer appointed new FIFA Head of Media

FIFA’s Head of Media Pekka Odriozola, after 8 years with FIFA, has decided to engage on a new professional challenge. He will leave FIFA on 6 September 2013. “On behalf of FIFA, I would like to thank Pekka for the huge contribution he has provided during his time with football’s world governing body. His expertise, professionalism and commitment have been outstanding. We wish him the very best for the future”, commented FIFA’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs Walter De Gregorio. Pekka Odriozola’s Deputy, Delia Fischer, who joined FIFA in 2002, has been promoted and appointed as the new FIFA’s Head of Media.