February 14 – Despite successfully hosting the African Nations Cup, South African football continues to make negative headlines off the field in terms of its on-going involvement in match fixing.
A former South Africa assistant coach has just been sentenced to eight years in jail for trying to bribe a referee to help a lower-league team.
The South African Football Association (SAFA) confirmed that Phil Setshedi (pictured), who was number two to Clive Barker when the country won the Nations Cup in 1996, will serve three years with the other five suspended.
He was found guilty in Cape Town of trying to influence the outcome of a match in the third tier of the domestic game two years ago.
Handing down the sentence, Magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg said match fixing was against the ethos of fair play and should never be tolerated. She noted it was a growing scourge around the world and therefore the South African courts needed to contribute to the fight by imposing a strong deterrent.
Setshedi used to coach South Africa’s leading side Orlando Pirates and his sentence will send out a clear message, said SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani.
“This sends out a strong warning to anyone who might intend to tarnish the good name of the sport through corrupt and any other unsporting behavior.”
South Africa has recently been rocked by allegations that several national team matches ahead of the 2010 World Cup were fixed by an Asian betting syndicate.
A 500-page report cited warm-up matches against Thailand, Bulgaria, Colombia and Guatemala all being rigged.
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