Case Studies

Football welcome

by Mark Rowe

Interpol Secretary General Ronald K Noble has welcomed as a positive development for sports the appointment by Premier League football club Aston Villa of Italian defender Simon Farina with its Football Development unit, where Mr Farina’s responsibilities will include developing Aston Villa’s youth programme on integrity in sports.

In November 2011 the Gubbio defender rejected an offer of 200,000 euros to fix the outcome of a match and reported the attempted bribe to the police.

“Simone Farina is a football defender both on and off the pitch. He showed integrity and courage by turning down and reporting to the police an attempted bribe to corrupt the outcome of a match; he needs to become just as important a role model for our youth like stars such as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo,” said Mr Noble.

“Corruption in sport is a very complex problem for which there is no quick fix. In addition to strong enforcement efforts, all those linked to the ‘beautiful game’ must place a great emphasis on prevention. In this respect Simone Farina’s appointment by Aston Villa as a coach in its community outreach programme will allow him to continue to work to keep football clean,” added Noble, pointing to the INTERPOL-FIFA Training, Education and Prevention Initiative launched in 2011 as a key element in supporting football against match-fixing.

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