Outgoing Fifa head of security Chris Eaton returns to Zimbabwe next month to brief Zifa on his interview with former chief executive officer Henrietta Rushwaya amid revelations that suspected Asiagate mastermind Wilson Raj Perumal has been detained in Hungary, NewsDay Sport can reveal.
Perumal has been serving a prison sentence in Finland for fixing matches there, but is fully cooperating with Fifa on the Zimbabwe investigations, according to Eaton.
Zifa had asked for Eaton to visit for an update after e-mails, purportedly for Zimbabwe’s Asia sojourn, were discovered and the subsequent meeting that he had with Rushwaya.
Rushwaya has also been arrested and charged with concealing information from a principal regarding the trips to Asia between 2007 and 2009, bribery and corruption by the Anti-Corruption Commission. She is out on $500 bail and has been permanently returned her passport.
NewsDay Sport is in possession of communication between Eaton, who will be in South Africa next month to conclude match-fixing allegations raised ahead of the 2010 World Cup, and Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze.
Reads the communication: “Further to your request for the incoming Director of Security to attend Zimbabwe for briefings, you will be aware that I am in the process of concluding a related investigation in South Africa which also telescopes to other jurisdictions.
“In view of the present state of Zifa’s response to your internal inquiry and the fact that I am separating from Fifa at the end of next month, an update-briefing from me to your Committee and others could be useful, especially on the interview with Ms Rushwaya and subsequent document discovery and interviews.
“You will be aware that Wilson Raj Perumal continues to co-operate and is now in custody in Hungary.
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“I intend to travel next month (April) to South Africa to conclude the investigation of allegedly fixed pre-World Cup matches, and can travel to Zimbabwe during that period.”
During Eaton’s last visit to Zimbabwe with his chief investigator Terry Steans, they took a computer from the Zifa offices which they have been using to get information on the Asiagate trips.
In January, Fifa released some of the emails between Perumal and various associations. In one email, Perumal told an official: “Please ensure a friendly is arranged and let’s get down to business
. . . your economy is down and money is crucial. I will pay you $100 000 to ensure all goes well.”
He wrote to another association: “I have some youth tournaments coming up. I will send invitations to you and once you are here we will sort out the rest.
“These games are exhibition matches and please don’t make my life difficult by saying you want to win and so on. Trust me there is good money to be made.”
Perumal, a Singapore national sentenced for two years in 2011 over a match-fixing case in Finland, told another official in an email: “We want two goals in each half and you can get one goal after conceding the fourth goal. Reward will be $100 000. You will have to take your cut from this sum.” Fifa has since appointed German national Ralf Mutschke (52) as its new director of security taking over on June 1.
“My tasks as director of security will be manifold. For me, the main issue will be the integrity of Fifa competitions. The focus here will be on match-fixing, betting fraud and corruption. The initiatives that Fifa has already launched are good steps in the right direction.
“I will now have to pursue these initiatives stringently, but also build upon them and implement them consistently with the involvement of Interpol and national security authorities. With this in mind, I will be able to call upon more than 30 years of experience with the BKA (German Federal Criminal Police) in the fight against national and particularly international crime,” said Mutschke in statement.
Eaton and Steans were in the country last year to conduct investigations into the match-fixing allegations against almost 99 players, officials and administrators, who have all been suspended until they clear their names before an independent committee.
Mashingaidze was allegedly kidnapped and extorted of $10 000 for his involvement in the match-fixing investigations. Two men have since appeared in court and are out on bail.
