FIFA set up agency to guard against betting fraud

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London, Aug 16: FIFA announced today that it has set up its own company to safeguard football against possible match-fixing and betting scams in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

World soccer's governing body said in a statement that it was extending its early-warning system for the monitoring of sports betting to include the qualifiers for the 2010 finals.

FIFA said that the company named 'Early Warning System' was founded specifically for this purpose and had its own offices and staff in Zurich.

In a statement, FIFA said it had set up the agency ''to prevent sports betting from having any negative impact on football matches and, at the same time, raise awareness of this problem throughout the entire football community.'' All officials, players and their agents are forbidden to be involved in any betting or gambling connected with matches, according to Article 15 of the FIFA Code of Ethics.

Reuters >