India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has reportedly tried to contact the AIFF (All India Football Federation) for football match fixing. The CBI is now investigating whether or not match-fixing has occurred in the sport of football. A global fixer was suspected of funneling "large quantities of money" to at least five Indian football clubs through front companies.
The CBI is reportedly probing into claims that Singaporean match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal has financed Indian clubs through his company, Living 3D Holdings Ltd. Wilson was originally imprisoned in 1995 for match-fixing in Singapore and has since been convicted in Finland and Hungary.
The infamous international match-fixer was previously exposed for involving in several match-fixing instances in international sports events including the Olympics, World Cup qualifiers, women’s World Cup, CONCACAF Gold Cup, and the African Cup of Nations.
On Saturday, AIFF secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran told TOI that the governing body "had zero tolerance toward match-fixing" and that it had written to the clubs seeking their cooperation with an inquiry. Worries have been raised regarding investments made by shell firms with ties to the fixer. We shall take all necessary measures to eliminate the possibility of match-fixing in Indian football.
The CBI has written to each club individually to inquire about contracts, sponsorships, and the businesses involved in the recruitment of international players and staff. The five clubs being looked into all had I-League representation. The I-League was demoted to the second tier as the Indian Super League (ISL) rose to prominence.
