FIFA officials were in Trinidad and Tobago interviewing players about match-fixing allegations in local football, according to local officials. The inquiry was being handled quietly, and one senior figure said some players had already been interviewed.
Yale Antoine, the chief executive of the T&T Premier Football League, and Gordon Pierre, a Caledonia AIA executive member, confirmed the officials were in the country. Pierre said FIFA had been looking at betting sites and that, on some match days, some of those sites had been closed because of suspected manipulation.
The allegations were said to have rocked football at both Tier 1 and Tier 2 levels. Pierre said FIFA had observed too much manipulation before carrying out interviews, but he declined to name anyone involved.
The report sat against a wider concern about match-fixing and its lighter but harder-to-detect cousin, spot-fixing. FIFA defines match manipulation as the unlawful influencing or alteration of the course, result or any other aspect of a football match or competition, often for financial gain through betting.
FIFA says such conduct can involve people off the pitch conspiring through betting platforms, with players sometimes offered financial advantage to influence play. Its examples include deliberately losing a match or a phase of it, conceding goals or cards on purpose, or deliberately performing badly.
Trinidad Express drew a distinction between full match-fixing and spot-fixing, which targets specific moments such as a throw-in, corner kick or booking without necessarily changing the final result. It said spot-fixing is more difficult to detect and usually involves fewer people.
The same report cited the Lucas Paquetá case as a recent international example. After a two-year investigation, the Football Association’s independent Regulatory Commission ruled that all four spot-fixing charges against him were not proven.
The allegations in Trinidad and Tobago were not new. In 2023, Brian Lewis called on the TTFA to address them, and Travis Mulraine, then coach of Guaya United, said he had removed five players he considered culprits.
Osmond Downer, the TTFA’s second vice-president, said the executive had discussed the matter at a meeting on Monday, but no member could give details about the teams or players involved. He also said nothing had been done when the issue first surfaced in 2023 under the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, which ran Trinidad and Tobago football from 17 March 2020 to 14 April 2024 before the Kieron Edwards-led executive took over.
The report also noted the wider betting environment around the T&T Premier Football League. It said the league provides an avenue for international betting, that sportsbooks only need statistical data on teams, and that platforms such as Soccerway, Flashscore and Sofascore provide up-to-date scores, standings and fixtures with local data collectors supplying minute-by-minute statistics.
At the time, the Tier 1 title race was still tight. Defence Force Elite led on 49 points, one ahead of Club Sando on 48, with both sides due to finish against AC Port-of-Spain and FC Eagles respectively at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo.
