FIFA's head of security has said that he cannot give the World Cup a clean bill of health as claims erupted that Nigeria's warm-up game against Scotland was targeted by fixers with just a few days left before the start of the tournament in Brazil.
Although the World Cup has remained stain-free, Ralf Mutschke has revealed that he has identified that the matches that would carry the greatest risk of fixing in the World Cup that is due to kick-off in a few days.
According to the BBC, the former Interpol executive and police officer has revealed that it is true that certain teams and groups have already been identified as being vulnerable to fixers.
Mutschke reportedly revealed that the last rounds of group matches, involving teams with nothing to play for, are the most in danger and also that warm-up games are also under threat.
According to Mutschke has revealed that it is true that fixers have already approached players and referees and the fix of choice would focus on the number of goals in a match.
Mutschke said that they are not expecting fixers to be travelling to Brazil and knocking on the hotel door of players or referees, but he added that he knows that there would have been approaches to players and referees.
Mutschke also said that it is possible that Wilson Raj Perumal, who is a known fixer currently in prison in Finland and who has admitted in his autobiography to fixing matches in the most recent World Cup qualifiers, might have associates attempting to fig games in Brazil.
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Mutschke said that one cannot say yes or no definitely, but they are focusing on doing their best to protect the complete tournament rather than what any individual could or could not do.
Mutschke and his team have been planning meticulously for the last two years to prevent World Cup games from becoming victim to the fixers, the report added.
