Liberia, Mali match 'fixed': paper



by Sports Reporter


ZIMBABWE will lodge a protest with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) over sensational claims that Liberia’s football federation has accepted money to lose next month’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Mali.

A delegation from Mali spent two weeks in Liberia offering bungs to local officials, Liberia’s Daily Observer Sports newspaper reported.

Mali are involved in a three-way shoot-out with Zimbabwe and Cape Verde in Group A for the top spot in the final round of matches on October 8.

Zimbabwe travel to Cape Verde and will kick-off at the same time as Mali who play Liberia in Monrovia.

A win for Mali will put them through whatever happens in Cape Verde, but defeat would hand the advantage to whoever emerges victorious in Zimbabwe’s fixture.

The Daily Observer Sports reports that Malian officials told their Liberian counterparts that the Monrovia match was a “mere yawn” because the hosts, who have four points, cannot qualify for the finals set for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea early next year.

The newspaper said the claims were made by a Liberian outfit called the Concerned Citizens for the Promotion and Development of Football (CCPDEF).

The group’s spokesman told the newspaper they had obtained “classified information from an inside source” about the bribery attempts.

“The Malian delegation was in the country for two weeks under the guise of visiting their Muslim counterparts on the holding of a successful Ramadan, which ended on Tuesday, August 30, 2011,” the newspaper reported.

“The group stressed that mathematically, Liberia’s last game with Mali at home on Saturday, October 8, 2011, is a ‘mere yawn,” owing to the country’s poor position on the table...

“They said the group topper, Mali... desperately needs a win against Liberia to grab the lone seat.”



The paper said Liberian officials had accepted “an undisclosed amount of money”.

A CCPDEF spokesman told the paper: “We want to use this medium to advise the Musa Bility’s leadership not to sell our birthright for peanuts, or else, Liberia will be too small for him.”

Last night, ZIFA President Cuthbert Dube said they would launch a complaint with the Confederation of African Football.



“This is match-fixing and we will take it up with CAF,” Dube said. “Something has to be done.”