By Andrew Warshaw
March 9 – FIFA are to hold a special training course ahead of the World Cup to make sure there is no temptation to fix matches.
Speaking at the Tackling Matchfixing conference in London, Oliver Jaberg, FIFA’s director of integrity, revealed a number of meetings would be held with representatives the 32 finalists ahead of the big kickoff in Russia.
“We will have dedicated workshops with the integrity officers of Fifa’s participating member associations in the near future,” said Jaberg.
“We will train the trainers with the idea that they will then speak with their coaches, staff, officials and most importantly the players. We will also brief our referees immediately before the World Cup. The refs and players are the two groups who deserve the most training.”
Despite these efforts, Jaberg admitted Fifa had its hands tied when it comes to the most vulnerable clubs in the lower leagues across the world, the one group of stakeholders most susceptible to matchfixing.
“We do not have the resources to go to third or fourth division clubs of national member associations,” he said.
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