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FIFA Vows to Fight Match-Fixing


FIFA President Sepp Blatter leaves after a news conference in Prague, February 8, 2011 (file photo)
FIFA President Sepp Blatter leaves after a news conference in Prague, February 8, 2011 (file photo)

Football's world governing body, FIFA, is promising new rules to help stop international matches being fixed for betting scams.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter pledged tighter monitoring of referees' assignments as investigations continue into two suspect, "friendly" matches played in Turkey last month.

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said organizers of exhibition matches - for national or club teams - will need to submit referees' names for approval two months before kickoff. He added that FIFA and its continental bodies will have veto power if they have any reason to think that the referee is not the right choice for a particular game.

Last month in the Turkish resort of Antalya, all seven goals in two games were scored on penalties given by two low-ranked Hungarian referees. Latvia beat Bolivia, 2-1, and Estonia drew 2-2 with Bulgaria.

In another recent match that caused embarrassment, a Togo team playing Bahrain turned out to be fake.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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