Blatter betting on transparent World Cup
Tuesday, 25 April 2006 17:13Every player, official and referee in the World Cup will have to sign a written pledge that they will not bet on the tournament.
FIFA's announcement will leave the England players - some of whom, including Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, are fond of a flutter - in no doubt that gambling on the World Cup is strictly forbidden.
The game's world governing body have also set up a special 'early warning system' organisation to monitor any suspicious gambling patterns at this summer's finals in Germany.
Speaking in Zurich, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said: "There will be special instructions to all the referees, linesmen, players, coaches and official delegations in the World Cup.
"They will have to sign a paper saying that they will never, themselves or their families, be involved in betting on the World Cup or any other problems."
The early warning system will see FIFA officials work with big bookmakers and betting markets to track gambling patterns on matches.
FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi added: "Whenever we discover that (betting patterns) on certain matches are not appropriate we would get the signs and act accordingly."
Meanwhile, Blatter has appeared to backtrack on remarks reported earlier this month that any racist behaviour by fans at the finals would see their teams docked points.
FIFA have brought in tough new rules on points deductions that will apply internationally from the start of next season but Blatter said it would be difficult at the finals to identify whether culprits were connected to a particular team because only 8% of match tickets are initially given to national associations to distribute.
"If it (racism) is on the field of play or on the technical bench or
identified around the pitch then action will be taken," said Blatter.
"But the World Cup public is an international audience at every match and if you have some noises you don't know where they are sitting, and it can be difficult to identify who is responsible."
Blatter said before every match the players would stand before an anti-racism banner, and from the quarter-finals onwards each captain would make a plea over the loudspeaker system to fans to respect their opponents.
