AIFF responds to alleged match-fixing approach, reiterates zero tolerance policy

League leaders Minerva Punjab's owner had taken to Twitter alleging that his players had been approached by suspect elements.

All India Football Federation’s Integrity Officer Javed Siraj on Thursday (January 18, 2017) stressed on AIFF’s zero-tolerance policy towards any match-fixing allegations or any corruption related to the sport.

Siraj who has been an Integrity Officer with AIFF heading its anti-corruption unit since August 2014 as per the FIFA guidelines, felt the need of the hour is to “jointly combat any threats which can bring disrepute to the sport.”

We need to be ultra careful now /the cats out of the bag / it has arrived in our country /the curse of horrible people trying to ruin our beautiful game with the immediate lure of easy big money / really hope NO MATCH OFFICIALS or PLAYERS fall in this trap ????????????@ILeagueOfficial

— Ranjit Bajaj (@THE_RanjitBajaj) January 17, 2018

“We have been conducting regular educative and awareness workshops with the various Clubs and even various age-group National Teams on a regular basis. This time too prior to the kick-off of the Hero I-League we met majority of the Clubs making them aware as what needs to be done in case of any crisis,” he said.

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“We always pay emphasis on the Three R-s – Recognise, Reject and Report. Our aim is to protect the players and the officials and protect from the malice of manipulation,” he added. Referring to reports about Minerva Punjab Football Club footballers being approached by external forces Siraj stated: “I need to applaud the two Footballers who Recognised, Rejected and Reported the incident. We await an official complaint from the Club and will leave no stone unturned to protect the integrity of Football,” he clarified.

2 of my players came to me with screenshots of match fixing offers of 30 lakhs/I reported it to Aiff integrity officer&also AFC thru their integrity app/really hope these unscrupulous elements are not successful in getting thru2other players and match officials @ILeagueOfficial pic.twitter.com/Hs28ljflvb

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]— Ranjit Bajaj (@THE_RanjitBajaj) January 17, 2018

“Very recently, the Asian Football Confederation has launched an app on integrity wherein any team member can directly pass on information regarding approach,” he stated.