Former T&T defender, Keyeno Thomas, and San Juan Jabloteh's Karlon Murray, also a defender of Police have been hit with Fifa life bans and barred from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at both national and international level (administrative, sports or any other) for life.
The other persons banned by Fifa includes Hellings Mwakasungula (Malawi), Ibrahim Kargbo (Sierra Leone), Kudzanai Shaba (Zimbabwe), Séïdath Tchomogo (Benin), Leonel Duarte (Cuba) and Mohammad Salim Israfeel Kohistani (Afghanistan).
In a Fifa media release on its website yesterday it was stated that Thomas, 41, and Murray, 34 were among nine players/former players as well as one players' agent who were found guilty by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee of having been involved in match manipulation in violation of art. 69 par. 1 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (Unlawfully influencing match results) which states:.
1. Anyone who conspires to influence the result of a match in a manner contrary to sporting ethics shall be sanctioned with a match suspension or a ban on taking part in any football-related activity as well as a fine of at least CHF 15,000. In serious cases, a lifetime ban on taking part in any football-related activity shall be imposed.
Moreover, the Kenyan player George Owino Audi has been banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at both national and international level (administrative, sports or any other) for a period of ten (10) years. In addition, a fine in the amount of CHF 15,000 has been imposed upon him.
According to the Fifa release, the formal disciplinary proceedings into the aforementioned individuals stemmed from an extensive investigation into various international matches that Singaporean Wilson Raj Perumal attempted to manipulate for betting purposes.
This large-scale investigation was conducted by FIFA over several years through its Integrity Department and in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders and authorities.
The decisions were notified to the individuals concerned today, the date on which the relevant bans come into force.
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee comprises Chairman Anin Yeboah of Ghana, Deputy chairman Alejandro Piera of Paraguay and members Kia Tong Lim (Singapore), Lord Veehala (Tonga), Mahmoud Hammami (Tunisia), Joe Setright (Australia), Leonardo Stagg (Ecuador), Carlos Teran (Venezuela), Guy Akpovi (Togo), Yasser Almisehal (Saudi Arabia), Gudni Bergsson (Iceland), Charlie Cuzzetto (Canada), Mateo Fabrega (Panama), Thomas Hollerer (Austria), Talissa Koteka (Cook Islands), Maclean Letshwiti (Botswana), Jorge Ivan Palacio (Colombia), Andriy Pavelko (Ukraine) and Therese Pitcairn (Cayman Islands).
Match-fixer jailed
Perumal, 53 is a convicted Singaporean match-fixer and is accused on several match-fixing scandals, including Asiagate in 2007–2009 and the 2008–2011 Finnish match-fixing scandal.
He was first jailed for match-fixing in 1995 in Singapore and in the same year, he travelled to England on behalf of a Singaporean match-fixing boss to fix two FA Cup matches.
According to his autobiography, Perumal and an associate attempted to bribe Birmingham's goalkeeper Ian Bennett and Chelsea's goalkeeper Dmitri Kharine, failing both times.
In February 2011 Perumal was arrested in Finland and later sentenced to two years in prison but served one before he was then turned over to authorities in Hungary.
During his stay in Finnish prison, Perumal spoke to Finnish authorities and revealed a global network of match-fixers based in Singapore.
Blaming other members of the network for his arrest, he fingered Dan Tan as the boss of his operation.
Perumal may also have connections to the 2013 Europol match-fixing investigation.[8]
He has published his match-fixing memoirs in a book titled "Kelong Kings", written with investigative journalists Alessandro Righi and Emanuele Piano; the book was released on April 28, 2014.
In the book, Perumal claims not only to have ferried Nigeria and Honduras to the final rounds of the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup by fixing their qualification matches but also to have rigged competitions in the Atlanta 1996 and Beijing 2008 Olympic games.
Perumal's memoir also revealed intricate details about the fixing of a number of 2010 FIFA World Cup warm-up friendly matches involving South Africa, Bulgaria, Colombia, Guatemala, Denmark, Brazil and Tanzania
The revelations were confirmed by a FIFA report, excerpts of which appeared on the New York Times a month after the book's publication.
100 games fixed
He appeared in his first televised interview on August 26, 2014, on CNN, during which he boasted about having fixed up to 100 games, including FIFA World Cup qualification matches.
On February 17, 2015, the investigative journalism website Invisible Dog issued a press release stating that the film rights to the book Kelong Kings were optioned by Gianni Nunnari's Hollywood Gang productions, who are developing a feature film based on the match-fixers autobiography.
On February 19, 2015, Al Jazeera English aired an investigative report called "killing the Ball", produced by Invisible Dog, in which Perumal described how he ferried the Nigerian national football team to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa by rigging their qualification match against Kenya, played on November 14, 2009, in Nairobi.
Murray signs lawyer
Reached for comment, the 34-year-old Murray, who last represented Police FC in the 2016/2017 T&T Pro League campaign, after moving from childhood club, San Juan Jabloteh in 2012/2013, said the matter was in the hands of his lawyers.
SRP Murray, a member of the E999 a tough tackling defender in his playing days, noted that his lawyers were already in the process of sending a formal appeal letter to Fifa with regards to the matter.
Murray never featured for the senior national team, but did represent T&T at the youth levels and was a key member of Jabloteh's team at Caribbean Football Union and CONCACAF Champions League level.
Thomas, now 41, made 72 senior international appearances for T&T and scored two goals, and was last part of the team in a 1-0 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying loss to the USA on September 9, 2009, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
He last featured in the 3-0 loss to the USA during the same campaign, away to the USA.
Commenting on the matter, current coach of Police T&T Pro League outfit Richard Hood, who signed up Murray for the 2012/2013 Pro League season said it was a very unfortunate scenario for both men.
Hood added, "Karlon (Murray), is no longer part of the Police team for a number of years, neither is the part of any of our technical staffs, but at the same time it does not look good on the T&T Police Service in general."
Reached for comment another T&T Pro League coach who chooses not to disclose his name said, that it was no surprise to him nor will it be to others with one of the T&T players who has been banned.
The coach said, "In the T&T Pro League his name (person named call) has been spoken about for a number years as being guilty of fixing matches, so that's why it's not a shock to me. Everybody can't be wrong about him.
A former national player added, 'This a serious issue that has been around local clubs and plaguing our football quietly for a while and to my knowledge there are a few other players who are and were under investigation at the local and Caribbean Club Championship level."