In this episode we explore match-fixing and the threat it poses to open and fair competition today. To do this, Joe Hart is joined by Samir Arab. Samir plays as a defender for Maltese club Balzan. In 2016, Samir met a former teammate in a cafe and a chat over a coffee led to Samir being banned from football for two years. 

Did you know that 1 in 10 of footballers today will be approached in their careers to fix a match, or part of a match, for the benefit of others. There are many ways in which match-fixing is being tackled, and in this show we look at what match-fixing is, and explore how simple it can be for a player to be mixed up in it. We then look at the work which FIFPRO have undertaken to create a ‘red button’ app where players can anonymously report any approach to fix a match.

In 2016, a former team-mate of Arab’s met him in a café and tried to convince the defender to manipulate a Malta U-21 game by losing each half by one goal in return for thousands of euros. Arab refused – the game finished 1-0 and Arab was praised by his coach for his performance – and he later cooperated with police investigations, despite fearing repercussions from criminal gangs, which led to court convictions for the perpetrators. 

However, football authorities hit Arab with a two-year ban as he did not immediately inform them about the match-fixing approach. 

Joining both Samir and Joe is Roy Vermeer. Roy is the legal director at FIFPRO and personally represented Samir as his case was heard. Roy talks about the significance of the Red Button app  and results he’s seen since the implementation and shares with us other cases in world football. 

This show contains references to suicidal thoughts and mental health struggles. 

If you are affected by what you hear, we encourage you to seek help at these places.

Samaritans International

https://samaritanshope.org/resources/international-help/ 

Mental health support

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/seeking-help-for-a-mental-health-problem/where-to-start/

This episode is uniquely available to watch as a video on Spotify. 

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This is a podcast made by Message Heard for FIFPRO.