Goa Football Association to File Police Complaint Following Match-Fixing Probe
The Goa Football Association (GFA) is set to approach the Goa police after receiving a comprehensive report from its ethics committee, which has been investigating serious allegations of match-fixing in the Goa Professional League (GPL). This decisive action follows a formal complaint lodged by Chapora Yuvak Sangh, whose president, Pravin Dabholkar, accused nine of his own players of conspiring with an alleged match fixer known as Sandy to manipulate GPL matches for financial gain.
Ethics Committee Investigation and Findings
In response to the complaint, the GFA promptly tasked its ethics committee with conducting a thorough investigation into the matter. To ensure integrity, retired deputy superintendent of police Sandesh Chodankar was appointed as the integrity officer to lead the probe. Chodankar's investigation has concluded definitively that match-fixing is occurring within Goan football, resulting in 14 players being formally chargesheeted. These players have been granted a ten-day period to submit their replies to the allegations.
"The ethics committee will convene to deliberate on the replies and impose appropriate sanctions," stated GFA president Caitano Fernandes in an interview on Sunday. "We anticipate the full report will be forwarded to the executive committee by the second or third week of March. The committee will then meet with a single agenda item: to implement and act upon the ethics committee's recommendations. Based on these findings, we are also considering filing a formal complaint with the Goa police."
Previous Police Complaint and Ongoing Efforts
This is not the first time the GFA has sought police intervention. Upon taking office in 2022, Fernandes inherited a league already plagued by match-fixing allegations. "We immediately filed a complaint with the crime branch, but the investigation remains pending," he explained. Despite this delay, the GFA's proactive measures have yielded positive results. Since the initial complaint, the number of red-flagged matches has decreased significantly.
"Genius Sports, our integrity partner, has highly appreciated our efforts, noting a reduction of over 80% in red-flagged matches," Fernandes added. "However, we require police assistance to completely eradicate this menace from Goan football." Genius Sports, an international betting monitor based in London, first identified suspicious betting patterns indicative of match-fixing in Goan football back in 2020. A match is red-flagged when betting monitors detect "something genuinely concerning" that undermines confidence in the match's integrity.
Commitment to Integrity and Systemic Cleanup
The GFA has been actively combating match-fixing through various initiatives, including integrity workshops for all teams, regular police complaints, and continuous interactions with Genius Sports, which tracks global betting patterns. GFA vice president Jonathan de Sousa emphasized the association's unwavering commitment. "I was vocal about match-fixing during the previous tenure when several matches were repeatedly red-flagged," de Sousa said. "Upon my election as vice president in 2022, I urged the president that our top priority must be to eradicate this threat. The president and entire executive committee have been fully supportive in working towards cleaning up the system and ensuring that all involved face the strictest punishment."
Over the past five years, international betting monitors have consistently alerted the GFA to suspicious betting patterns. These illicit attempts have persisted largely because none of the perpetrators have been apprehended by the police or penalized by the authorities. The upcoming police complaint represents a critical step in holding offenders accountable and restoring integrity to Goan football.
