Zifa boss Phillip Chiyangwa is set to review Asiagate bans. The Zimbabwe Football Association Executive Committee will at its next meeting deliberate on reviewing Asiagate bans and other sanctions that were imposed on various individuals by the previous board whose mandate was revoked last October.
“In an effort to find closure , I will propose that the issue of reviewing Asiagate sanctions be discussed at our next executive committee meeting”, ZIFA President Dr Phillip Chiyangwa told the Association’s official website www.zifa.org.zw.
“We understand some players, officials and journalists were banned for their alleged role in the Asiagate scandal.
“We feel it is prudent to review such sanctions and unite members of the football fraternity,” said Dr Chiyangwa.
The term Asiagate was coined in reference to a widely publicised match- fixing scandal that involved players and officials of the Zimbabwe National Football Team between 2007 and 2009. It is alleged that these underwent fixing syndicates-sponsored tours in mostly Southeast Asia between 2007 and 2009 and were paid varying sums of money to deliberately lose several hastily arranged friendly games by predetermined scores for betting purposes.
A Singaporean national, ex-convict Wilson Raj Perumal, reportedly played a pivotal role in the Asiagate scandal. Perumal has been described as “the world‘s most prolific match-fixer” for his involvement in several cases of match-fixing across six continents.
He has admitted in his book, Kelong Kings, to lead a syndicate that makes millions in profits every year from its fixing activities.