AIFF appoints Siraj as its Integrity Officer

New Delhi: All India Football Federation (AIFF) has appointed Javed Siraj as its Integrity Officer to combat corruption and match-fixing in the sport and he will take up his post from August 1.

"The AIFF is focused on upholding the core values of football such as Fair Play, achievement by merit and the uncertainty of the outcome of matches and competitions," Governing Body`s General Secretary Kushal Das said. "Match fixing is a dangerous threat to the game, therefore, the AIFF is committed to protecting the integrity of all its competitions and enhance good governance across football in the country," Das added. The Integrity Officer will be the single point contact on all matters of Integrity in AIFF. Among his many roles and responsibilities in the aforementioned capacity, the Integrity Officer is expected to develop an Integrity Plan and Strategy along with developing required educational material on integrity matters. He will also report the progress of this initiative to the Executive Committee of the AIFF from time to time. "With the commercialisation of sports, it has become imperative to have integrity in all areas and prevent any sort of wrong doings," Siraj said. "I will be ensuring that integrity in football is maintained at all levels in the country by coordinating with clubs and their team security officers on all matters pertaining to integrity and security during competitions," he added defining his role. Siraj will also carry out risk assessment of competition/matches on threat of match manipulation and betting as and when required. He will also be paying visits to competition venues in view of preventing any sort of malpractice during matches. The AIFF is also in the process of signing an agreement with Early Warning System (EWS) for monitoring betting of domestic competitions.