Wilson Raj denies predicting outcome of Cameroon v Croatia game
A new twist has emerged in the match-fixing claims levelled against the Cameroon national team.
Convicted match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal has released a statement via his biographers to deny that he had known the outcome of the June 19 Cameroon v Croatia World Cup game before it was played.
This contradicts reports that he had accurately predicted the 4-0 score line for the game in a Facebook chat with a writer for Der Spiegel, a German magazine.
In his latest statement, he says he never mentioned the game's exact score to the writer, and that the chat happened after the match had been played.
Offering tips
In our latest report, however, a source told The New Paper that Wilson Raj had been calling friends in Singapore offering tips for over 50 World Cup games.
According to the source, all his tips have been wrong except for three matches: Ivory Coast v Japan, Chile v Australia and the match now in the spotlight, Cameroon v Croatia.
On Monday (July 1), the Cameroon football federation (Fecafoot) announced via its Facebook page that it had launched an investigation into the allegations that World Cup matches involving Cameroon were fixed.
The Singaporean match-fixer had also predicted that a Cameroon player would be sent off in the first half.
Alex Song was, of course, dismissed during the opening 45 minutes of the match for a foul on Mario Mandzukic.
"An educated guess"
In his statement, Wilson Raj confirmed that the conversation between him and Der Spiegel happened, but it happened after the match on June 21.
He said he was just giving "an informal assessment" of the game based on his "extensive match-fixing experience".
He also added that he was unaware that his conversation with the Der Spiegel was going to be publicised.
"At no time did I make reference to four goals being scored or to a red card being issued. At no time did I suggest that I had any way of corroborating or substantiating what was meant to be an educated guess based on my extensive match-fixing experience. Last but not least: at no time was I informed by the Der Spiegel journalist that our chat was going to end up in the German publication."
Wilson Raj
The Telegraph Sport was able to obtain screen grabs of the alleged conversation between Wilson Raj and a journalist, which seems to back Wilson Raj's claim.
Screengrab of the alleged conversation between Wilson Raj and Rafael Buschman. Credit: Telegraph
The Telegraph reported that Der Spiegel is standing by its original report despite Wilson Raj's denial.
A statement from the magazine to The Telegraph read: "We firmly stand by our assertion that Mr Perumal wrote in a Facebook chat with Der Speigel some hours before the World Cup match Croatia vs Camerooon, that the result of the match will be a 4-0 victory for Croatia and that a player of Cameroon will get a red card in the first half."
Source: Invisible Dog, The Telegraph
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