Football
Andrew Jackson Oryada Snr, KweséESPN 6y

Uganda referees accused of match fixing

Ali Waiswa, the Vice Chairman of the Ugandan Referees Standing Committee, has alleged to KweséESPN that Super League officials are fixing matches.

Waiswa, the assistant to committee chairman Ronnie Kalema, has revealed that referees in the division have reportedly been approaching club officials in order to secure financial incentives to influence games.

"What's currently going on is very unfortunate, because we have some referees who have been suspended by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations for [fixing] games before," Waiswa told KweséESPN, "and some are still going on with the vice.

"I am not concerned if some of my colleagues are not happy with me disclosing this, but what is happening is very bad and something needs to be done," added Waiswa, who went public with his accusations on Ugandan television earlier this week.

"Referees are calling club officials for money so that they help them win matches, and the club officials are also calling referees because they know they are ready to take the bribes," he added.

"Other referees receive money forwarded to their mobile phones to determine the outcome of game," he continued. "We need a total overhaul of systems, and perhaps even within the leaders who manage referees in the country.

"We need to be sincere and ban many of these match officials who we know are very corrupt and deciding outcomes of matches.

"Something needs to be done by all stakeholders so that this is tamed and football in the country develops through the right channels instead of be influenced by corrupt referees," the former match official concluded.

Earlier this week, the FUFA referees disciplinary panel, headed by Deo Mutabazi, summoned coaches Mujib Kasule (Proline FC) and KCCA FC's Mike Hillary Mutebi to explain why they had been openly complaining about the level of match officiating.

"I faced that committee on Wednesday and told them that referees in Uganda and some club officials are corrupt," said Kasule. "I have sent them several videos to justify that the referees have been paid to decide matches and nothing has been done."

"When referees fail to be fair, it spoils the standard of the game," echoed Mutebi, in an exclusive interview with KweséESPN.

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