Former Afghan booters accuse federation president of match-fixing

Several former Afghanistan players have accused the country's football federation's president Mohammad Kargar of fixing two matches of the men's national team in 2008, reports the Guardian.

Former Afghanistan captain Djelaludin Sharityar and goalkeeper Aimal Gerowal are among those to have accused Kargar- who also had two spells as the team's coach.

They accused Kargar of working in collaboration with match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal and Dan Tan to arrange the results of games against Nepal and Sierra Leone at the Merdeka tournament in 2008.

Several players who were part of the Afghanistan squad have alleged that Kargar was also involved in a plot with Perumal and his associate Tan in exchange for each player being paid $2,500 at the friendly tournament in Malaysia.

Sharityar and three other Germany-based players in the squad said they refused to take part in the alleged fix and the former captain said he pleaded with Kargar not to go ahead with a plan to draw 2-2 against Nepal at the Petaling Jaya Stadium in Sengahor on 16 October 2008.

The players have also claimed that Kargar had arranged to lose their second match 6-0 against Sierra Leone's under-20 side a few days later but that Hafizullah Qadami disobeyed orders by scoring a goal and the match ended 6-1. He never played for Afghanistan again.

Kargar, however, has denied all allegations.

In November 2016 the Afghanistan captain Islam Amiri admitted in front of the rest of the squad that he had taken part in match-fixing during the tournament in Malaysia but had never been punished.

Earlier this month, 18 members of Afghanistan's men's team squad boycotted their World Cup qualifier match against Qatar, alleging substandard treatment from the football federation.

A letter signed by the players were sent to FIFA and the AFC, outlining their complaints against the federation, which included allegations of corruption.

The players claimed in the letter that senior officials of their football federation misappropriated funds that were supposed to be invested in developing football in the country.

"Every year our federation gets financial support from Fifa and from the AFC," Afghan player Shayesteh, who plays for the Indian side Sreenidi Deccan, told Guardian. 

The players have also alleged that members of the AFF's executive committee distributed half of the $30,000 bonus meant for the squad after making it through to the next round of World Cup qualifying among themselves.

A squad of largely local-based players played against Qatar on November 16 got thrashed 8-1.