After years of research the KNVB integrity unit has found concrete evidence that Willem II were involved in match-fixing back in 2009.
- By Michael Bell
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The game between FC Utrecht and Willem II on August 9, 2009, which finished 1-0 to the home side, was fixed with certainty according to the KNVB. Away losses to Feyenoord and Ajax earlier in that season have also been named as manipulated games.
The man behind the scandal is midfielder Ibrahim Kargbo, who operated with matchfixer Wilson Raj Perumal. Some of Kargbo’s teammates will also have been involved, but the KNVB does not know for sure who. The KNVB also believes the charity match between Sierra Leone and Willem II will have been used to manipulate the players.
Both Kargbo and Raj Perumal have denied having anything to do with match-fixing.
KNVB operations director Gijs de Jong said, “Dutch football has in this area as one of the last in Europe officially lost its innocence.
“We know match fixing does not stop at national borders and the KNVB said long ago that it can come in the Dutch competitions.”
“Yet it is now swallowing the officially established. Willem II, their fans and everyone involved in football. At the same time we hope that this will benefit. Namely, that it contributes to the urgency in the Netherlands to combat this scourge in the sport. ”
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It’s obvious Feyenoord are guilty of throwing their last seven games